Battery returns to top

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Battery defeats Railhawks

The Charleston Battery defeated the Carolina RailHawks, 2-1, on Friday night at Blackbaud Stadium.

Charleston Battery striker Tom Heinemann figures he had about 14 family members on hand to see him get his first start at Blackbaud Stadium.

His family didn't leave disappointed.

Heinemann scored his first professional goal and defender Matt Bobo added another score to lead Charleston past Carolina, 2-1, Friday night before a crowd of 4,054 at Blackbaud Stadium.

With the victory, the Battery moved back into a tie for first place in the USL First Division with a 9-3-8 (35 points) record. The fourth-place RailHawks dropped to 9-5-3 (30 points).

With his parents, siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins on hand, Heinemann had to get some help from some of his teammates to accommodate all of the ticket requests. But it was well worth the effort.

"For everyone in my family, and I mean everyone, to be here to watch me score my first professional goal was something special," said Heinemann, who had started four previous games during the season, but all were on the road. "I play to score, and it has been a while since I scored a goal, so to finally get one was a big relief for me."

With Charleston already leading 1-0, Heinemann's header in the 30th minute gave the Battery a comfortable 2-0 advantage just before intermission.

After a scramble in front of the net after a corner kick, the ball bounced out to midfielder Scott Buete about 35 yards out on the left side. Buete served a perfect ball to the back post that the 6-1 Heinemann headed into the net for the score.

"It was a beautiful ball from Scott," Heinemann said. "Their backs tried to step up and Scott read it well, gave me a little nick over the top, and he really made it easy for me."

With defender John Wilson, midfielders Ian Fuller and Kenji Treschuk and striker Darren Spicer out of the lineup with injuries, Battery coach Mike Anhaeuser needed someone like Heinemann to step in and fill the void.

"Because of injuries and back-to-back to games, you're going to need depth in this league to be successful," Anhaeuser said. "We had some guys step up tonight, like Tom Heinemann, against a very good team and get the job done."

The Battery played a near perfect first half, jumping to a 2-0 lead and limiting the RailHawks to one scoring chance.

"The first 45 minutes was just a fantastic performance from our guys," Anhaeuser said. "Then we really buckled down in the second half defensively and still got a couple of scoring chances. That's what you want to do in this heat and humidity. We gave up an unfortunate goal there near the end. But all in all, a really good performance."

The Battery nearly scored in the 21st minute off a set piece from about 25 yards out. Stephen Armstrong took the shot that bounced off the right post right onto the foot of defender Frankie Sanfilippo just inside the 18-yard box. But Sanfilippo's try sailed over the crossbar to end the threat.

The Battery grabbed a 1-0 lead on Bobo's header off a corner kick in the 31st minute.

Tsuyoshi Yoshitake sent a perfect curling ball into the 6-yard box that Bobo knocked in for his second goal of the season.

"I've had a lot of near misses, so it was nice to finally get one," Bobo said. "It was perfect service from Yoshi. If I would have missed that, I would have just walked off the field."

The RailHawks finally got on the scoreboard in the 87th minute on Luke Kreamalmeyer's volley off a set piece. After a foul on Bobo about 40 yards out, Carolina midfielder Daniel Paldini set a beautiful curving ball to the back post that Kreamalmeyer volleyed into the net for the score.

Headers

--Charleston keeper Dusty Hudock was suspended for Friday night's game after receiving a red card last weekend against Rochester.

--Carolina RailHawks striker Gavin Glinton, a former Charleston Battery player, missed the game with a sore hamstring.