LEESBURG, Va. - The Charleston Battery triumphed 1-2 on the road over Loudoun United FC on Wednesday at Segra Field. Charleston struck twice in the first half through Nathan Dossantos and Nick Markanich, with Markanich’s proving to make the difference after a late goal by the hosts. The Battery ascend to the top of the Eastern Conference standings with the victory and are currently six games unbeaten.
Wednesday’s match was an early one as it was part of Loudoun’s Camp Day, which included various initiatives for youth soccer players in the Leesburg area.
Charleston started the morning on the front foot, undeterred by a Loudoun side who came into Wednesday undefeated in their last eight league matches.
Nathan Dossantos broke the deadlock in the 11th minute with a glancing header of Aaron Molloy’s corner kick. Dossantos played the ball perfectly to the near post, uncontested, for his second goal in three games. The assist was Molloy’s second of the year.
The Battery continued to apply heavy pressure and dictated much of the match in Loudoun’s defensive half of the pitch.
Nick Markanich was Johnny-on-the-spot to double the Battery’s lead in the 25th minute. Loudoun’s Keegan Hughes sent an inaccurate pass that ended up right at Markanich at the edge of the box. With a copious amount of space in a dangerous area, Markanich worked toward the goal and buried his shot inside the near post.
The goal was Markanich’s 19th of the year and doubled Charleston’s lead before noon, his fifth straight game with a goal. It was also the Battery’s 19th first-half goal across 21 regular season games, the most in the league.
Charleston took a commanding 0-2 lead into the break and held Loudoun without a shot on target in the first half.
The Battery picked up where they left off and nearly added another goal in the opening moments of the second half.
Charleston’s pressure led to a series of nervy passes between Loudoun players inside their own box and MD Myers intercepted the ball at the top of the box. He then played it to Molloy, but the Irish midfielder’s close-range shot was saved in the 53rd minute.
Goalkeeper Adam Grinwis faced his first real test of the match in the 66th minute and made a specular diving save to deny Zach Ryan. On the other end, Myers came close to adding to Charleston’s lead in the 76th minute but his shot hit off the woodwork.
The hosts managed to pull a goal back in the 79th minute with a free kick from Ryan. It was a contentious situation that led to the free kick as Molloy picked up a yellow card for a foul despite receiving a kick in the back of the leg from Christiano Francios’ shot attempt.
Charleston withstood Loudoun’s last-gasp push for an equalizer to see out the victory. This included a chaotic situation inside the Charleston box in the final moments of stoppage time, when Loudoun had numerous looks to score again but failed to convert.
The Battery secured the 1-2 victory over Loudoun, their first at Segra Field since 2021 while also snapping the hosts’ eight-game undefeated streak.
The win sends Charleston to the top of the Eastern Conference table, as of writing, and advances their record to 12W-2L-7D (43pts).
With 19 goals to his name, Markanich moves into sole possession of fifth place for the most goals in a single season (all competitions) in Battery history. He inches closer to the club’s all-time single-season record of 27 by Paul Conway in 2001 and the USL Championship single-season record of 25 goals.
