The Charleston Battery walked off the field at the Citrus Bowl empty-handed and disappointed.
They had fallen behind 3-0 to Orlando City in the semifinals of the USL PRO playoffs, but fell a goal short of drawing even and forcing overtime. The 3-2 loss ended their season and dashed hopes of a second consecutive league championship.
“I think any time you don’t win a championship it’s disappointing,” Battery coach Mike Anhaeuser said to the Charleston Post and Courier, as he looked back at the loss. “We[show_disconnected][show_to accesslevel=’Subscriber’] really wanted a chance to defend our championship, so for it to end in the semifinals was difficult. We thought we had good chance to repeat.”
Charleston posted a 13-7-6 regular season record, good for third place in the standings. The Battery had advanced through the first round of postseason play with a 2-1 home win over the Los Angeles Blues.
The Orlando City Lions, second in the final regular season standings, got home field for the semifinals. Too bad for Charleston. The Battery went 9-1-4 at Blackbaud Stadium this season.
Going into the playoffs the Battery appeared to be back on form after struggling a bit midway through the season. Over the closing five weeks of the season they went 6-2-0.
However, over a 19-day span mid-season, Charleston played seven games. That included U.S. Open Cup games, which happens when you are successful and reach the fourth round of play, which Charleston did.
The Battery proved to be a balanced team, scoring 45 goals, fifth best in the league, and allowing only 29 all season. That was third best in the league.
“I thought we were a very balanced team,” Anhaeuser said in the Post and Courier article. “We could score, but we really know how to defend properly. We were not the kind of team that was going to sit back and play for a tie. We were going to push forward and create chances even when we were on the road.”
A year ago the Battery won the league title over the Wilmington Hammerheads. This year the champion was Orlando City, winners in the 2013 final over the Charlotte Eagles.
In time the players and coaches may be better able to appreciate what they accomplished in 2013.
“I think we’ll look back on it in a few weeks and realize it was a good season,” Anhaeuser said. “But right now, we just wish we had made it to the finals.”
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