PAWTUCKET, R.I. - The Charleston Battery were dealt a 4-0 away defeat to Rhode Island FC at Centreville Bank Stadium on Wednesday. After a scoreless first half, the hosts managed to strike four times to secure all three points, extending their home undefeated streak against the Battery.
The midweek match kicked off with the Battery aiming to secure their first win in Rhode Island in the all-time series.
Charleston were forced into an early change when Laurent Kissiedou appeared to pick up a knock and was unable to continue, being replaced by Maalique Foster in the 15th minute.
The Battery nearly opened the scoring in the 21st minute when Houssou Landry connected with Jeremy Kelly with an audacious pass into the box and a clear look to goal, but Kelly’s shot was saved by goalkeeper Koke Vegas.
Just before the half-hour mark, Emilio Ycaza eclipsed 10,000 career minutes played in the USL Championship regular season. At the same time, Ycaza nearly marked the occasion with the opening goal, but his strike from distance drifted just wide of the post.
In stoppage time, Luis Zamudio made a clutch save to deny J.J. Williams’ close-range header and keep the hosts off the board.
The game went into the interval all square and scoreless at 0-0. Shots were nearly even, Charleston’s six to Rhode Island’s seven, and just one on target each.
Play resumed in the second half with all still to play for.
Rhode Island managed to take a 1-0 lead in the 51st minute via Williams.
Ycaza almost gave the Battery an instant response with a header in the 55th minute that was just barely saved off the line by Vegas.
Rhode Island’s Jojea Kwizera made it 2-0 in the 61st minute and Williams added a third for the hosts in the 66th minute.
The hosts were awarded a penalty in the 81st minute after Zamudio was booked for a foul on Clay Holstad in the box. Dwayne Atkinson converted from the spot in the 83rd minute to make the score 4-0.
Rhode Island secured the 4-0 win as the Battery were held without recording a shot in the final 25 minutes of the match.
The result moves the Battery’s record to 3W-3L-1D (10pts), placing them fifth in the Eastern Conference table, as of writing.
Head Coach Ben Pirmann discussed the game after the final whistle, with key quotes to follow.
Coach Pirmann on his overall assessment of the night…
I think we got the game plan right. I think the selection was right. We played a very good first half. Up front, there were three, four, five players who need to score a goal in the first half. And that's not pointing fingers at anybody, it's just the team played a very good half, and we needed to reward ourselves with a goal.
And then, in the second half, we got stretched. Fair play to Rhode Island. They broke the line and got in behind our midfield, and then they got the ball wide, and it deflects, and their striker finishes it, and that's, unfortunately, been a little bit of the game.
We haven’t been strong on the road so far, horrible on the turf, when it's cold, but these are all just excuses. So, we’re definitely frustrated. It stinks, losing 3-0, 4-0 on the road.
Last match, we played a great game against Tampa Bay, and came up two points short. Tonight, we played a good first half here, and lose 4-0. So, we’ve got to look at it, we've got to improve. We have to improve in every department, as the coach and the coaching staff, and in what we implement to the players. The players have to perform better, and we just got to do things better collectively as a whole.
Coach Pirmann on the approach going forward with another game in three days…
We had a very quick turnaround from Tampa to Rhode Island. We tweaked the shape a little bit. As I said, it was very advantageous for us in the first half, and then we got outplayed in the second half. So, I'm not quite sure if it's adjustments or just continuing to improve a little bit.
Right now, our mistakes, our margin for error, is very thin. It's not an excuse, it's just the reality of it. It's the reality of playing good teams. We have to make the appropriate adjustments, whether that's player selection, whether that's a tactical concept, or even whether that's a different principle.
But the boys are working hard. I'll give credit to Emilio Ycaza, the guy just runs himself into the ground for this team. But, as a whole, we have not been good enough right now. So, we've got to pick ourselves up. I told the team that after the game, the human beings behind the footballers are what is going to win games. They have a good growth mindset, and it's new competition on Saturday. We've got to find good spirits, good energy, good togetherness, and get there and try to get what we can out of it.
Lineups:
RI: Vegas, Nodarse, Yao, Diop (Stoneman, 70’), Sanchez, Bacharach (Herivaux, 73’), Holstad, Kwizera (Fuson, 74’), Rodriguez (Atkinson, 81’), Alonso, Williams
CHS: Zamudio, Messer (Blackstock, 71’), Akpunonu, Smith, Suber (Cabrera, 64’), Houssou, Kelly (Swan, 71’), Ycaza, Pakhomov (Martinez, 64’), Kissiedou (Foster, 15’), Berry
Scoring Summary:
RI - JJ Williams, 51’
RI - Jojea Kwizera, 61’ (Augustin Rodriguez)
RI - JJ Williams, 66’ (Koke Vegas)
RI - Dwayne Atkinson, 83’