By: Battery Media
The Charleston Battery are set to hit the road one more time this month, journeying out to California for a clash with Orange County SC on Saturday, August 19th. Kickoff is set for 10 pm ET at Championship Soccer Stadium.
Charleston and OCSC have met twice before. The Battery hold the advantage in the all-time series with a 1W-0L-1D record. The most recent meeting came in 2021, a scoreless draw at Patriots Point. This weekend will be the Battery's first visit to Championship Soccer Stadium.
The Battery (12W-6L-7D, 43 pts) enter Saturday’s contest following a two-match road trip last week where the Black and Yellow took home four of the possible six points up for grabs. Charleston played Louisville City FC to a 1-1 draw and defeated Detroit City FC 0-1. Last week's results bring the Battery's total number of points won away from home to 25, best in the league.
Orange County (11W-9L-4D, 37 pts) head into this weekend after defeating Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC 1-0 on Wednesday. OCSC have turned a corner since Morten Karlsen took over head coaching duties back in May, when they had only one win through eight games. Karlsen was named the league's coach of the month for July and now has them fighting for a top-four finish in the Western Conference.
Augi Williams a player to watch for the Battery. In 13 career games against Orange County, Williams has tallied four goals and one assist.
Cameron Dunbar is one to keep an eye on for OCSC. The attacker joined recently on loan from Minnesota United FC and made a name for himself with LA Galaxy II, where he made 48 appearances in the Championship regular season, recording 15 goals and six assists.
Trey Muse recorded his eighth clean sheet of the year on Saturday and his next will set a new career-high for shutouts in a season.
The Battery's next victory will be the 50th regular season win for Head Coach Ben Pirmann's career in the USL Championship. Pirmann currently has 49 wins in 94 regular season games.
Augi Williams moved into a tie for 10th place in the Championship's regular season goals list with his game-winning goal against Detroit City FC on Saturday. Williams has 63
Charleston's impressive road record this season (7W-2L-4D, 25 pts) is in stark contrast to last year's mark (1W-11L-5D, 8 pts), signaling the strong turnaround of the season. With four away games remaining this season, the Battery will have a chance to reach the top five in league history for road points in a regular season campaign.
Saturday will feature a pair of 1990s clubs squaring off in the Battery (1993) and Orange County (1998, as Los Angeles Blues).
