Battery stumble at home
Orlando City 1, Battery 0
A week ago, the Charleston Battery played down to their competition. Facing one of the top teams in the USL Pro division Tuesday night, the Battery had one of their best efforts of the month, but that wasn't good enough against Orlando City.
Rob Valentino scored in the 39th minute and Miguel Gallardo recorded the shutout to lead Orlando City past the Charleston Battery, 1-0, in the second round of the U.S. Open Cup before a crowd of 1,249 at Blackbaud Stadium.
Orlando will take on FC Dallas in the third round of the U.S. Open Cup next Tuesday night. The Battery will see Orlando again in a USL Pro matchup at Blackbaud Stadium on July 9.
Despite two lackluster performances last week against Regals FC, an amateur team out of Houston, and Dayton, the team with the worst record in the USL Pro division, the Battery managed to record two victories.
Orlando City would prove to be a step up in quality. It has been atop of the USL Pro division most of the season.
"We knew this was going to be a tougher match," said Charleston Battery coach Mike Anhaeuser. "We knew we were going to have to raise the level of our play, and I thought we did that. We made one mistake in the back on a set piece, and it cost us the game. Other than that, I thought this was one of our better games."
Orlando dominated possession in the opening 10 minutes, but from there it was all Battery as they had four quality scoring chances over a 20-minute stretch.
Their best scoring chance came in the 28th minute when Charleston defender John Wilson played a perfect through ball to Stephen Armstrong at midfield. Armstrong flicked the ball over the Niki Patterson who dribbled to the 18-yard box. Paterson drew an Orlando City defender to him and then passed to a wide open Levi Coleman on the right flank.
Coleman's shot, however, was blocked by a sliding Demar Stewart just inside the six-yard box.
"We knew we had to be patient," Anhaeuser said. "They like to possess the ball and pass it around. I knew we'd get our chances if we were patient and we got a great one with Levi. Give credit to their defender, he made a good play on the ball."
The Battery had another quality chance in the 32nd minute when defender Mike Zaher crossed a ball into the six-yard box to Coleman. Coleman, however, made a diving attempt, but couldn't get enough force behind the shot as Gallardo made the save.
"We didn't sit back," Anhaeuser said. "We kept the pressure up. When you get chances like we did in the first half, you've got to convert."
Orlando City grabbed a 1-0 on Valentino's header in the 39th minute. After a corner kick, the ball bounced around the penalty box and popped out to midfielder Kevin Milino. Milino served it back into the six-yard box. Charleston keeper Andrew Dykstra came off his line and jumped up for the loose ball only to watch helplessly as Valentino headed the ball into the empty net.
"I don't know if (Valentino) was offside, I want to look at the video," said Charleston defender Colin Favley. "It was close, but we worked all week on their set pieces."
The Battery had another chances in stoppage time in the second half as the ball was reversed and slipped ahead to Paterson just outside the 18-yard box with a clear path to the goal. However, Paterson was ruled off side on the play.
"It was close," Paterson said.
Headers
--Tickets for Charleston's exhibition match against Portsmouth on July 27 at Blackbaud Stadium are on sale now. Tickets start at $20. For more information call, 971-GOAL.
--Charleston midfielder Diego Walsh left the team on Saturday 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.
--Striker Seedy Bah was unavailable because the U.S. Open Cup rules only allow five foreign born players to dress a team.
--Charleston's game against Wilmington on Friday night will be televised by Fox Soccer Channel beginning at 8 p.m.
