Recap: FC New York and Harrisburg Matches

Alright I hate to do his again, but I didn't see either of the matches, so there's not much I can really comment on. So here are the recaps from the Battery's website: Harrisburg FCNY. Here are a few of my thoughts:

• No red cards or injuries, and if anybody has any minor knocks, they can be healed up during this two week break we will have here.
• It's nice to see Andrew Dykstra back in goal after missing about 80% of this season. It will be interesting to see who gets the gloves for the match against Dayton on the 17th.
• Dane Kelly is playing very well. Even though I didn't see either match, I can tell that Kelly is getting forward and getting more chances as he has in the past month or so. The goals will start falling here for Kelly and we could see him be a prolific scorer in the second half of the season.

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Preview(s): Charleston-Pittsburgh and Charleston-Rochester

After gaining 4 points in 2 matches last weekend, the Battery now head north for another two game spell against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds and Rochester Rhinos. Here's what to expect:

Pittsburgh Riverhounds:
This Season: The Riverhounds have only earned 4 points in their first four matches. They defeated Harrisburg 1-0, lost to Richmond 2-1, and lost to Wilmington 3-1. Last Saturday the Battery and the 'Hounds played to a scoreless draw at Blackbaud Stadium.
Who's Playing Big: Forward Jason Yeisley and Midfielder Shintaro Harada have been providing the offense for Pittsburgh, though the goals have been few and far between. Yeisley has a huge physical presence, and Harada has been playing well from what I have seen.
Who Needs to Step Up: The back line has been playing mediocre at best. The performance against the Battery may look good when you look at the stats, but when you look at the chances that the Battery had, at least one goal should have been up on the scoreboard.

Rochester Rhinos:
This Season: Last week the Rhinos finally notched their first points of the season in a 3-2 victory against the Dayton Dutch Lions. This was after opening their first two matches with two 1-0 losses to Richmond and Wilmington.
Who's Playing Big: Rochester is an interesting situation, because in last week's match with Dayton their back line played poorly, and their forwards played well. While in the previous two matches, the back has played well while the forwards couldn't put a single goal on the scoreboard.
Who's Needs to Step Up: Rochester will just be looking to get some consistent play from their whole squad. If they can start to get some goals consistently, they will be fine this season, as they have gotten more quality than poor play from the back.

What to Expect:
Charleston looks to come out in the usual 4-4-2 (Keep in mind that this is the best possible Starting XI as of right now, and will probably not be the line up for both Matches):

Wiggans

Wilson Falvey Zaher Marples

Paterson Peverley Mack Armstrong

Coleman Kelly

Keith Wiggans will continue to be in goal for the Battery while Andrew Dykstra tends to that injury.

The back line has stayed consistent all year, and should stay for these matches. Last week the defense only gave up 6 shots and no goals were scored.

The Midfield will have some changes from last week. We can expect Paterson and Peverley to play, as they have been playing quality ball and should be able to build on their previous performances this year. Armstrong should be back in the line up after a week off. My one "wildcard" if you will, is JC Mack. Mack played great in last weekend's matches.

Levi Coleman and Dane Kelly are no doubt the best two candidates for the forwards. Coleman played possibly his best match of the season last week (and should have scored), and Kelly is also peaking right now, and the chemistry between him and Coleman has been wonderful in recent matches.

The match with Pittsburgh on Friday night will not be available on USL Live, but will be on 1340 in Charleston and on the Battery's website. The Rochester match will be broadcast on USL Live, and coverage will start at 7:00.

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Charleston Held by Pittsburgh for a Draw

Last night the Charleston Battery played their second match in two days against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds in Charleston. The Riverhounds held the Battery for a 0-0 draw in front of 4,079 fans at Blackbaud Stadium.

Dane Kelly got the match started off quickly. In fact it only took him about 30 seconds to get a shot on goal. He came in off a good run and got into the box on the left side, but his shot was saved by Pittsburgh keeper Hunter Gilstrap.

Kelly would get another chance just minutes later. He would find Gilstrap off his line just enough to attempt to slide the ball past him. Gilstrap would make a last second kick-save to preserve the clean sheet.

The chances were back in forth, but the Battery had the majority of them, along with the possession.

In the 23rd minute, Levi Coleman stripped a Riverhound defender and had just the keeper to beat, but shot it wide. This was probably Charleston's best chance of the night.

Kelly continued to be active, and nailed a shot off the post in the 24th minute, after JC Mack crossed it in.

The Battery thought they had scored in the 36th minute when Levi Coleman slid a ball into the back of the net off a Cole Peverley pass, but he was caught off side. I don't think he was offside, and we'll have to wait for the archived game on USL Live to see.

The rest of the game was lacking of great chances, aside from a Riverhounds free kick in stoppage time of the second half, and the match would end 0-0.

Man of the Match: Dane Kelly
Kelly finally showed up and looked great for a game for once. He was making effective runs and was very active from the moment he stepped on the pitch. The combination of him and Coleman up front looks to be working great, and they have developed a great chemistry with each other that should be resulting in a huge amount of goals in the next couple of matches.

Honorable Mentions: Levi Coleman and Keith Wiggans

The Battery had 17 shots compared to just 6 by the Riverhounds, and the legitimate scoring chances for Pittsburgh were few and far between. Charleston should have won this game and the result is disappointing to say the least.

On the bright side, the pink jerseys looked great and the Kick for a Cure was a huge success.

The Battery now travel on up to face Pittsburgh at their place on Friday and then they will play at Rochester. The Pittsburgh match will be available on 1340 AM in Charleston as well on charlestonbattery.com. The match with Rochester will be broadcast on USL Live.

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Charleston Battery: Possible Starting XI

With the Carolina Challenge Cup coming up in less than a month, the Battery roster should be coming together. But it really isn't. On the Battery website the roster only lists 12 players:

• Goalkeepers: Or should I say goalkeeper. The only keeper listed is the recently signed Keith Wiggans, who is a 6 year veteran for the Battery and I'm perfectly confident in his ability. His GAA (goals against average) is solid at 1.08.
• Defenders: Colin Falvey, Mike Zaher, Nigel Marples, and Brandon Massie round out the current defenders on the Battery roster. Falvey is obviously a solid defender, barring an occasional sloppy challenge like at the USL-2 Championship last year. Zaher is also good and has some MLS experience. Marples also has some experience and logged many useful minutes for the Battery last year. Massie is playing his second season with Battery, and is listed on the Battery's website as a defender though he was brought to the team as a striker/midfielder.
• Midfielders: If there is one position I feel good about, it's at midfield. The midfield will consist of Stephen Armstrong, Alioune Gueye, Kevin Jackson, Nicki Paterson, and Jon Gruenewald. Stephen Armstrong has been in Charleston since 2006 and has become a staple at the Battery's games. He has scored 24 goals and dished out 11 assists in his career. His 24 goals is fifth all time in the Battery's history. It was interesting to see how he adjusted last year, when he was put into less of a goal scoring role. He did well and had 3 assists along with one goal from a PK in the 2010 season. Alioune Gueye scored only 2 goals with no assists last season, but brings a flair to the games that I've enjoyed watching. Kevin Jackson is arguably the most experienced player on the so far 12-man roster. He played for the Battery from 2003 to 2005 before taking a four year break. Last year he returned to the Battery and scored 1 goal and had 2 assists in 17 appearances last year. Nicki Paterson, one of the Battery's newest signings, will be joining the Battery for the first time this season. Last year with Real Maryland Monarchs he scored no goals in 19 appearances. Jon Gruenewald is the least experienced player in the midfield joining the Battery for his second pro season. Last year he appeared 9 times for the Battery, with 3 starts.
• Forwards: Only two forwards are listed on the roster and they are Zach Prince and Levi Coleman. Zach Prince will be returning for a second season with Charleston. He was used a lot last year, usually as a sub. He made 16 appearances with 3 starts. In all of his appearances he scored one goal with no assists. Levi Coleman is also coming back to Charleston for a second season. And he is tall, standing at 6-2. He scored 2 goals and had 2 assists in 2010. Prince and Coleman could play similarly up front as Heinemann and Neagle played last year (Probably not as good though, let's face it Tom and Lamar tore it up), with Prince playing the role of Neagle as the speed and Coleman playing the role of being huge (though not as big as Heinemann who was 6-4) and knocking people around inside the box.

Overall not too bad. The roster is obviously thin and leading up to the CCC we should see Charleston sign some more players, and hopefully find some young players to give a shot at playing professionally. We have no depth at all, and we need to fill holes at every position. The current roster suffers from some inexperience, but has enough veterans to survive. At worst we need to get:

• A back up keeper for Wiggans
• Three more Defenders
• Three more Midfielders
• One preferably two forwards. Getting one striker, and one that we can put at midfield would be helpful.

Right now our starting XI would look like this, assuming we come out in a 4-4-2:

This is just my best guess (and I'm sorry Jon Gruenewald somebody had to be left out). But a couple of things, I can assure you of. Wiggans will start in goal, and Armstrong, Falvey, Gueye, and Zaher all look to be locks for starting positions, but we'll see where we're at before and after the Carolina Challenge Cup.

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Charleston Battery: Bits of News

The Battery have been pumping out the news in the past few days, here's a quick recap:

• 2 Spring Scrimmages Announced: On Tuesday, at the montly Regiment meeting, games against a pair of South Carolina colleges were announced. The first is to be played just after the Carolina Challenge Cup at Blackbaud Stadium against the Clemson Tigers. The game will be played on March 16th. The second game will be against the College of Charleston Cougars on March 22nd at the College of Charleston. These are both good teams to get the Battery warmed up for the upcoming USL-Pro season. Clemson has been an improving side in recent years, after having a few bad years after having such stars as Oguchi Onyewu and Stuart Holden. The Tiger's 2010 season was highlighted by a win over 18th ranked Duke. College of Charleston had a great year and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, where they lost to the eventual runners up, Louisville.
• Battery Resign Three: On Thursday three players from last year's USL Second Division championship team, we're resigned for another year in Charleston. Colin Falvey, Zach Prince, and Keith Wiggans will all be returning to play for the Battery. Falvey, a midfielder, played in New Zealand during the offseason with Youngheart Manawatu, and played with the Wilmington Hammerheads, who are on the Battery's schedule this year. Prince, who is also a midfielder, will be playing his second season with the Battery. The Battery is the only pro team he has played with, but he played with the College of Charleston. Keith Wiggans, a keeper, will be returning for a sixth season with the Battery. Wiggans also played at the College of Charleston. These are all good signings, I like having experience with Wiggans and Falvey, and Prince should give the midfield some depth.
• Plus, the Carolina Challenge Cup is less than a month a way. Time to get very amped up for the tournament!