By: Battery Media
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., – The Charleston Battery earned a hard-fought point Friday in a dramatic 3-3 draw with Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC. The Battery twice held the lead via goals from Geobel Perez (5') and Augustine Williams (52'), but Switchbacks FC managed to level the score twice before pulling ahead in the 77th minute. Charleston rallied late when AJ Paterson scored in stoppage time off a free-kick to salvage a point on the thrilling evening.
The evening started with both sides eager to make their mark early on the match. The Battery opened the scoring in the 5th minute when Geobel Perez cut through Colorado Springs and found the back of the net from just outside the box. Enock Kwakwa was credited for the assist, his first of the season, on Geobel's second goal of the season. The goal was Charleston's sixth within the first 15 minutes of a match in 2022, the second-most in the USL Championship.
Switchbacks FC looked to level the score following Geobel's goal with their up-tempo offense. After a couple of close looks, the hosts leveled the score in the 24th minute when Elvis Amoh tapped in a cross from inside the box by Michee Ngalina. Charleston were holding Colorado Springs' advances to that point, but were unable to preserve the lead during that sequence.
Battery goalkeeper Hugo Fauroux came up big late in the first half with a pair of saves in quick succession, once a kick-save against Hadji Barry inside the box in the 35th minute and a diving save against Ngalina in the 36th minute. Both clubs pressed forward for a breakthrough goal in the waning moments of the half, but the 1-1 scoreline held into the break after an evenly-contested first 45 minutes.
Play resumed with the intensity picking up right where it left off before the break. The Battery again struck early in the half when Augustine Williams directed Charleston's second goal of the night, assisted by Charlie Asensio, in the 52nd minute. The goal is Williams' 10th of the season, making him the first Battery player to notch double-digit goals since 2018 (Ataullah Guerra, 15).
The middle portion of the second half would prove to be a fortunate one for the hosts. Barry found an equalizer in the 72nd minute following a through ball that cut through the Battery defense and the Switchbacks No. 10 tucked his shot inside the near post. In the 76th minute, the hosts were awarded a spot attempt after Joe Schmidt was issued a yellow card inside the box. Jairo Henriquez converted the penalty a minute later despite Fauroux guessing correctly on which side to dive for.
The Battery, however, were undeterred and continued to press for a goal to salvage a point. The build up play from Asensio and Robbie Crawford, the latter making his first 2022 appearance for the club, helped drive the visitors forward. Williams came close in the 86th minute with an attempt deep inside the box that went wide. Switchbacks FC believed they scored the game-sealing goal in the 89th minute, but Ngalina was flagged for offside in the build-up.
Heroics arrived in the second minute of stoppage time when AJ Paterson scored on a free-kick from roughly 25 yards out, banging the shot off the crossbar and into the back of the net. The captain's strike left no chance for goalkeeper Christian Herrera or Switchbacks FC's five-wide wall. Paterson's dramatic equalizer, assisted by Perez who teed the ball up at the start, was his first goal since 2019.
