Fuller's goal in injury time gives Battery crucial victory

Battery 1, Victory 0

Battery 1, Victory 0

The Charleston Battery got three minutes of stoppage time in the second half Saturday night against California.

As it turned out, the Battery only really needed two.

Ian Fuller scored two minutes into stoppage time and Keith Wiggans recorded a shutout as Charleston beat the California Victory, 1-0, in front of a crowd of 4,115 at Blackbaud Stadium.

The Battery, which is 7-1-2 in its last 10 home games, improved to 8-9-5 (29 points) and kept its playoff hopes alive with the win. California dropped to 4-13-7 (19 points).

It was a frustrating game offensively for the Battery, which generated plenty

of quality scoring chances and put away two goals, only have each of them disallowed on offside calls.

"We created great chances all night," said Charleston Battery coach Mike Anhaeuser. "Usually a team has one of these games every season. You create chance after chance, but you just can't seem to finish. Fortunately for us, Ian came in and got a great goal to finish it off and we got the three points in the bag.

"It's a huge win for us. We can't afford to look back. We've got to get some rest and get ready for Tuesday night against Carolina."

With the game scoreless after 90 minutes and California playing a man down after Matt Fitzgerald was ejected for a hard tackle, the Battery pushed everyone up into the attacking zone.

Defender Louie Rolko got the ball on the right side about 40 yards out from the goal. Rolko served the ball into Fuller inside the 18-yard box. Fuller fought off a Victory defender, spun and blasted a shot past California keeper Eric Reed for the score.

"I thought Louie was going to play the ball in early," Fuller said. "I knew he wasn't going to get a great ball in, so I ran across the front post. I got a great first touch and I then I just buried it. I smashed it as hard as I could."

The goal was a moment of pure joy for Fuller, the former Clemson standout, who has missed 15 games this season with a pulled hamstring.

"It's been an unbelievably frustrating season for me," Fuller said. "I've tried to stay positive but it has been tough. The boys have really kept my spirits up. I didn't play very well tonight. I think I lost every ball I went after, but that doesn't matter now.

"I wasn't expecting to play at all tonight. The situation came up and they put me and I was terrible, but that doesn't matter now. We got the win."

The win puts the Battery right back in the playoff hunt. With six regular-season games remaining and only two at home, the Battery is just one point out of a playoff spot.

"This was a great win, but we've got to keep it rolling," Fuller said. "There are a lot of important games left to play. These are all must-wins coming up. This win won't mean a thing if we can't keep it going."

The Battery appeared to take a 1-0 in the 30th minute when midfielder Michael Richardson scored off a cross from Ian Bennett. However, striker Andre Toussaint was called for being off side and the goal was disallowed.

Charleston had an excellent chance to score in the 44th minute when Stephen Armstrong played a beautiful ball forward to Toussaint. Toussaint raced past the Victory defense and was in all alone on California keeper Eric Reed. However, Toussaint's shot sailed just wide of the goal.

For the second time during the match, a Charleston goal was disallowed after the Battery was called for off side in the 48th minute. Toussaint got a shot off from just outside the 18-yard penalty box, but the ball ricocheted off the right goal post. Striker Lazo Alavanja was there for the rebound and knocked it in for the apparent score. However, Alavanja was called for off side and the goal was disallowed.

Headers

--Striker Byron Alvarez and midfielder Gordon Chin were suspended by league for an accumulation of yellow cards.

Alvarez leads the Battery with eight goals this season.

--Talk about your short benches.

The California Victory, which based in San Francisco, brought just three substitutes against the Battery. Midfielders Matt Fitzgerald and Chuck Kim and keeper Damon Jakubek were the only substitutes listed for the Victory. All three saw action in the second half, including Jakubek, who played as a striker for the final 30 minutes of the match.

Reach Andrew Miller at apmiller@postandcourier.com.

---

Notice about comments:
The Post and Courier is pleased to offer readers the ability to comment on stories. We expect our readers to engage in lively, yet civil discourse. The Post and Courier does not edit user submitted statements and we cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted in the comments area. Responsibility for the statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not postandcourier.com. If you find a comment that is objectionable, please click "suggest removal" and we will review it for possible removal. Please be reminded, however, that in accordance with our Terms of Use and federal law, we are under no obligation to remove any third party comments posted on our Web site.
Full terms and conditions can be read here.

---

Comments

This article has  0 comment(s)