Charleston shuts out Rochester
Why not, indeed.
On a slippery field where the advantage is heavily in favor of the attacking player, Charleston Battery defender Frankie Sanfilippo thought, "why not" take the shot.
Sanfilippo and Randi Patterson each scored in the second half to lead the Charleston Battery past the Rochester Rhinos, 2-0, Saturday night before a crowd of 3,874 at Blackbaud Stadium.
With the victory, Charleston improved to 4-0-4 (16 points) and is tied with the Carolina RailHawks for first place in the USL First Division. The Rhinos, who came into the game tied with the Battery in second place, fell to 4-3-1 (13 points).
With the Battery leading 1-0 and 30 minutes left, Sanfilippo made a strong run down the right flank from his right back position.
As he got closer to the Rhinos' 18-yard box, Sanfilippo thought to himself, "why not" and blasted a shot past Rochester keeper Scott Vallon from about 35 yards out. The highlight reel goal twisted to the far post as Vallon didn't even move on the play.
"I had plenty of space in front of me, and it's in the rain and the field is slick and I thought, 'why not just hit it,' " said Sanfilippo, who scored his second goal of the season. "No such thing as a bad shot, especially when the field is a little slippery. It felt good. I got a little fortunate it went in the upper corner."
Sanfilippo's finish left most of the Charleston Battery players and coaching staff speechless after the game.
"What can you say after a goal like that," said Charleston Battery coach Mike Anhaeuser. "I don't know what I can add. That's his second quality goal of the season in the top corner. I know that's something he's been working on in training, but what a great goal."
It was an impressive result considering the Battery played without midfielders Stephen Armstrong and Tsuyoshi Yoshitake and striker Dan Antoniuk for most of the game. Armstrong (ankle) and Antoniuk (hamstring) missed the entire game with injuries, while Yoshitake left the game in the fifth minute with a pulled hamstring.
"I think that shows you the kind of depth we've got on this team," Anhaeuser said. "We've had some injuries to some key players and we've still been able to get good results. When you have injuries and guys out of the lineup, you find out what kind of depth you have, and so far, so good."
It was another solid defensive effort from the Battery as Charleston keeper Dusty Hudock recorded his league-leading fifth shutout. Hudock was rarely challenged as he was forced to make just one save.
"Rochester came in here to defend and rely on its counterattack," Anheauser said. "We did a good job of slowing down its counterattack and nullifying those chances."
After a scoreless first half, the Battery finally broke through on Patterson's goal in the 56th minute. Darren Spicer got the ball in the middle of the field and flicked it to Patterson. Patterson turned, took two dribbles and then blasted a low, bending shot past a diving Vallon Scott for the score.
It was Patterson's first goal of the season after leading the Battery with 10 goals a year ago.
"It seems like it has been forever since I scored a goal, so to finally get one was a huge relief," Patterson said. "It was all a blur for me. Darren gave me a nice pass, I was dribbling and the field was wet, so I was like, 'why not' and just put something on net.
"The pressure is finally off of me and now I can relax and hopefully get a goal in the next game."
The Battery nearly scored 90 seconds later when a long ball was played to midfielder Scott Buete down the right flank. Buete got behind the Rhinos defense, but his shot sailed just wide of the goal mouth.
The Rhinos were forced to play with a man down in the 63rd minute after forward Taiwo Atieno head-butted Charleston midfielder Tyler Hemming during a scrum after the whistle.
Header
Charleston midfielder Tyler Hemming was called up to the Canadian National team for its match against Cyprus on May 30. Hemming will miss next Saturday's game with the Cleveland City Stars.
