Coleman, Dykstra lift Battery

It hasn't been the most beautiful week of soccer for the Charleston Battery, but nobody in a black-and-gold uniform was complaining about the results Friday night.

Levi Coleman scored late in the second half and Andrew Dykstra recorded the shutout to lead Charleston past Dayton, 1-0, before a crowd of 3,054 at Blackbaud Stadium.

It was the second win in less than four days for the Battery, which improved to 6-5-3 (21 points) and remained in fourth place in the USL Pro's American Division. The Dutch Lions fell to 1-7-2.

On Tuesday, Charleston struggled to find its offensive legs in a 2-0 win over Regals FC, an amateur team out of Houston, in the opening round of the U.S. Open Cup.

The Battery's performance wasn't much better against the Dayton Dutch Lions, one of the worst teams in the USL Pro Division.

"I think the mark of a good team is to find a way to win when they're not at their best," said Charleston defender Colin Falvey. "We got three big points out of tonight's match and we advanced in a knockout tournament on Tuesday, so we're getting the job done on the scoreboard, and in the end, that's all that really matters. We've played better

matches this season and lost, so I'm not going to complain too much about winning when we're not at out best."

One area that has remained rather consistent for the Battery of late has been the defense, which has allowed just four goals in the last six matches, including two straight shutouts. The Dutch Lions managed just three shots on goal for the entire match.

"You are never going to lose if you don't give up a goal," Charleston coach Mike Anhaeuser said. "First and foremost, you have to defend properly, and we've been doing that lately. I wish we could have scored more goals. I think our fans want us to score more, and we've been tweaking things offensively here lately to get some more scoring chances. I think the goals will come."

It was a chippy game between the two teams that saw two red and five yellow cards to go along with nearly two dozen fouls.

"It got a little rough out there, but that's football," Falvey said. "It got a little bit over the top at times. They came out and played physically, and we had to match that."

The Dutch Lions were forced to play a man down for almost the entire second half after striker Marvin van der Pluijm was issued a red card in the 48th minute. The Dayton striker tangled with Falvey as both players fell to the ground. Once van der Pluijm got to his feet, he head-butted Falvey and was immediately ejected from the match.

After getting called for offsides four times in a five-minute stretch, the Battery finally figured out the Dutch Lions' trapping defense when Coleman scored in the 77th minute.

"We had been making a couple of straight runs at them and those are easy to defend," Falvey said. "Evan (Taylor) made a beautiful diagonal run and I was lucky enough to get him the ball."

Falvey played a perfect bending through ball to Taylor from about 25 yards away. Taylor ran onto the loose ball and crossed it a wide-open Coleman, who easily tapped it into the empty net for the score.

"Easiest goal I've scored in a long time," Coleman said. "Evan made a great pass and I was wide open. All I had to do was tap it in. You need those kinds of goals to get your confidence going."

The Dutch Lions lost another player in the 89th minute when defender Evan Schwarz took down Coleman outside of the penalty box.

Headers

--Tickets for Charleston's exhibition match against Portsmouth on July 27 at Blackbaud Stadium will go on sale Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. Tickets start at $20. For further information call, 971-GOAL.

--The winner of Tuesday's U.S. Open Cup match between Charleston and Orlando City will face Major League Soccer's FC Dallas on June 28. FC Dallas will host the match.

--Charleston midfielder Diego Walsh left the team for a tryout with a club in Thailand.

--Midfielder J.C. Mack (foot), defender Graham Dugoni (leg) and midfielder Cole Peverley (ankle) were out of the lineup with injuries.