Catching up with the Battery

Let's face it.  July was a pretty rough month for the Charleston Battery.  Out of a possible eighteen points from six matches, the Black and Yellow brought home only three.  The victory over Wilmington marks the only bright spot in a rather grim period for our boys.  As things went from bad to worse, at the end of the month the Battery's exhibition with Nottingham Forrest was cancelled because of a management shift across the pond.  Unfortunately, the negative trend continued into August as Charleston drew and then dropped their next two matches.  The results are as follows (match reports linked with each score-line) :

7/1/2012		@ Antigua Barracuda FC	L 0-1
7/6/2012		Charlotte Eagles	L 0-2
7/7/2012		@ Charlotte Eagles	L 0-1
7/14/2012		Wilmington Hammerheads	W 3-1
7/19/2012		Orlando City	L 1-2
7/27/2012		@ Orlando City	L 0-4
8/3/2012		Wilmington Hammerheads	D 2-2
8/4/2012		@ Wilmington Hammerheads	L 1-2
8/8/2012		@ Harrisburg City Islanders	L 0-3

Yep, there it is...silver lining!!

While all this leaves fans with little to cheer about, we may have just seen our silver lining.  In their last outing, the Battery tanked the Rochester Rhinos four-to-nil in New York.  Tony Donatelli led the charge with two goals and an assist, effectively ripping his former club a new one while earning USLPRO player of the week honors at the same time!!

The win awards Charleston with a playoff berth, but seeding will depend on the final week's results.  The Battery can still secure second place with win and a Rochester loss/draw.  That would give Charleston a bye to the league semi-finals.  Even if things don't go our way, we've still made the playoffs.  I'm already anxious to see who we'll draw.

But first things first, we've one match to play in the regular season.  Charleston host the Dayton Dutch Lions Saturday evening in our season finale.  While the Lions will be playing for pride, much more is at  stake for the Battery.  Contention for the final three playoff spots is incredibly tight as Richmond, Wilmington, Charlotte, Harrisburg, and Los Angeles are all still in the running.  With a win, we're practically guaranteed to host our playoff match(es).  A draw or loss opens the door for other teams to overtake Charleston in the standings.  We have a good record against Dayton and defeated them 1-0 back in June.  With so much at stake and so much uncertainty in the table this year's playoffs may prove our most exciting yet!

COME ON BATTERY!!!  Cage the Lions, then on to the postseason!!!

(photo credit: chas battery website)