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From The Daniel Island News Sports
But the first-place Charleston Battery are hotter. After winning last Tuesday’s July 1 overtime shootout thriller 2-1 over defending MLS champion Houston Dynamo in the U.S. Open Cup, Coach Mike Anhaeuser’s squad continued its stellar play on Saturday when it scored early and hung on with a tenacious defense for a 1-0 win at home over the Seattle Sounders in league play. Saturday’s victory in front of 3.371 fans at Blackbaud Stadium stretched the Battery’s lead in the USL First Division. And Anhaeuser was pleased by his team’s tenacious defense and confident, opportunistic attack. "We really wanted to push the tempo and take it to them," Anaeuser said. "Seattle is a team that likes to press, even after playing three games in six days. But our guys defended well, created chances and really played a complete game. We really never gave them a chance." Shootout triumph over champs The Battery’s July 1 shootout victory over the Dynamo was more dramatic because Charleston played the final 20 minutes with only nine players after two red-card ejections. During the deciding overtime shoot-out, the Battery were perfect, scoring four out of four with goals from Osvaldo Alonso, Stephen Armstrong, Darren Spicer and Tim Velten. Houston defender Geoff Cameron missed and forward Franco Caraccio was denied by Dusty Hudock who saved the final Dynamo PK to lift Charleston to victory. Tuesday showdown in Dallas The Charleston Battery squared off against Major League Soccer’s FC Dallas Tuesday night at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas; the game was a quarterfinal match in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. That game had yet to start prior to this edition of the paper going to print. It was a rematch of the 2007 quarterfinal that Dallas won in OT; this is the third consecutive year that Charleston has met FC Dallas in the Open Cup; in 2006 Dallas bounced the Battery with a shootout win (3-3 AET). The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, the U.S. Soccer Federation’s National Championship, is an annual competition open to all amateur and professional soccer teams affiliated with U.S. Soccer. It is the oldest annual team tournament in U.S. sports history and among the oldest soccer tournaments of its type in the world. In 1999, the competition was renamed to honor long-time soccer pioneer Lamar Hunt. At stake in the tournament is $180,000 in prize money broken down as follows: $100,000 to the champion, $50,000 to the runner up and $10,000 to the team that advances deepest into the tournament from each of the Division II, Division III and amateur levels. The winner of the U.S. Open Cup also receives an automatic berth into the CONCACAF Champions League. T-shirt night Saturday The Battery’s next home game will be vs. the Puerto Rico Islanders on Saturday, July 12. Kickoff is 7:30 p.m. The first 500 children through the turnstiles will receive a free organic cotton t-shirt courtesy of Saturn of North Charleston; enjoy $2 drafts until kick off in the Bud Light Beer Garden plus fun and prizes at half time. The league-leading Charleston Battery will be looking to extend its home winning streak to five games. Clash of the Carolinas Saturday’s match also marks the return to Blackbaud Stadium of the Clash of the Carolinas High School Soccer Games with the South Carolina Seniors taking on the North Carolina Seniors prior to the Battery vs Islanders match. These All-Star games will feature 32 of the top boys and girls seniors in North Carolina and South Carolina . Kickoff for the girls match is 3 p.m., with the boys game set to start at 5 p.m. Don’t miss this chance to see the very best high-school soccer players from North and South Carolina . Admission to the Charleston Battery game includes both high school all star matches! Tickets are available for $8 - $15 (includes all three games); to purchase tickets or for more information please call 843- 971-GOAL / www.charlestonbattery.com. |
