Battery Moves Into First Place

The Charleston Battery defeated the Rochester Rhinos 3-1 at Blackbaud Stadium in front of 3,691; the win lifts the Battery into first position in the USL First Division. Charleston scored two unanswered goals in the first-half and added a third with ten minutes to go to secure the victory; the Rhinos played most of the game reduced to ten men after defender Alfonso Loera was ejected in the 41st minute.

The Battery’s Randi Patterson tied Miami FC’s Alex Afonso and Seaettle’s Sebastein Le Toux for the USL-1 goalscoring lead with seven goals when he scored Charleston’s second goal.

The Battery opened the scoring in the 32nd minute. Defender Nelson Akwari started the scoring sequence with a driven ball to Chris Williams at the half-way line. Williams played the ball forward for central-midfielder Chris Corcoran to run onto. Corcoran played the ball square to Lazo Alavanja at the top of the box who immediately slipped the ball out to Stephen Armstrong on the left side. Armstrong took the pass in stride and hammered a low shot into the far corner.

It was 2-0 less than two minutes later after forward Randi Patterson earned a free-kick on the left side. Osvaldo Alonso whipped the ball into the near post and Patterson beat his defender to the ball and finished with a neat flick past goalkeeper Scott Vallow.

Rochester were reduced to ten men just before half time after defender Alfonso Loera was ejected for a late tackle on Patterson just outside the box.

The Battery is back at Blackbaud Stadium on Tuesday night as it takes on the current Major League Soccer Champions, the Houston Dynamo in the third round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup; gates open at 6:00 P.M. with kick off set for 7:30 P.M.