Battery rolls past Harrisburg

The Charleston Battery recorded its ninth victory of the season by overpowering the Harrisburg City Islanders, 3-1, in front of 4,634 fans at Blackbaud Stadium.

Battery midfielder Navion Boyd recorded a goal and an assist to help keep the Battery (9-3-0) in second place in the USL Pro standings, five points behind Orlando City.

“The players performed very well tonight and can be proud of the way they acquitted themselves against a strong team,” said Battery coach Mike Anhaeuser. “Scoring the goal just before halftime was critical as it gave us the momentum and allowed us to dictate the tempo of the game after halftime.”

After a chippy opening that saw both teams create chances, the Battery finally broke the deadlock in stoppage time at the end of the first half.

Nicki Paterson slipped the ball out to Navion Boyd on the right side, and Boyd skipped past his defender and squared the ball to Jose Cuevas, who took the pass in stride and drilled a volleyed-finish past Harrisburg goalkeeper Nick Noble.

Charleston pressed its advantage after the break and scored in the 50th minute when forward Sallieu Bundu ran onto a through pass and clipped the ball acrosss to the back post, allowing Boyd a simple tap-in for his first goal in a Battery uniform.

Harrisburg responded within two minutes to make it 2-1, and the game became very open as both teams traded attacks. Dykstra made an excellent save in the 68th minute to deny substitute forward Lucky Mksono after Colin Falvey miscued a back-header.

At the other end, Charleston has several chances themselves, but in the end it was substitute midfielder Ryan Richter who put the result beyond doubt, stroking the ball home with a neat left-footed finish from 10 yards out.

The Battery next heads on a two-game road trip to Antigua. Charleston plays the Antigua Barracuda on Friday and July 1. Both games kick off at 7 p.m.