Powerless Battery falls to Gilstrap, Pittsburgh

Charleston Battery captain Colin Falvey surveyed the field Saturday night at Blackbaud Stadium and must have wondered who those imposters were.

Pittsburgh's Matt Tuttle and Shintaro Harada each scored, and former College of Charleston star Hunter Gilstrap made three saves to lead the Riverhounds past Charleston, 2-0, before a crowd of 3,965.

The Battery, playing its third game in less than a week, fell to 7-6-3 (24 points), but remained in third place in the USL Pro's American Division. Pittsburgh improved to 3-9-3 (12 points).

One night after dispatching Wilmington, 2-0, the Battery looked tired and searching for anything good to happen. It was in stark contrast to Friday's win over the Hammerheads.

"We played so well (Friday) in Wilmington that it's hard to believe that this is the same team," Falvey said. "It's like night and day, so to come out in front of our own fans and play so poorly is disappointing."

Hoping to keep his team fresh after Friday's win and 3-hour bus drive back from Wilmington, Charleston coach Mike Anhaeuser inserted several new players into the lineup. The move backfired.

"I tried to play a lot of fresh guys tonight, and it looked I made the wrong decision," Anhaeuser said. "We were not very crisp. Our passing wasn't very good and we looked like a tired team with heavy legs when were shouldn't have been."

Pittsburgh's early goal didn't help.

"That changed the whole complexion of the game," said Pittsburgh coach Justin Evans. "You get that early goal and you can dictate the pace of play."

Pittsburgh grabbed a 1-0 lead on Tuttle's goal in the sixth minute. After a strong buildup, Riverhounds striker Jason Yeisley took a shot from about 25 yards. It bounced off the right post and onto the foot of Tuttle, who easily knocked the ball in for the score.

The Riverhounds pushed their advantage to 2-0 on Harada's goal in the 68th minute. Harada got the ball on the right flank, faked a shot, stepped around a Battery defender and blasted it in from about 20 yards past Charleston keeper Keith Wiggans.

The Battery finished with a flurry of scoring chances, but couldn't get one past Gilstrap.

Notes

--Tickets for Charleston's exhibition match July 27 against Portsmouth at Blackbaud are on sale. Tickets start at $20. Call 971-4625.

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

--The Battery next hosts the Los Angeles Blues on Friday at 7:30 p.m.