The Battery look to stay on top of the USL Eastern Conference table on Saturday night in Harrisburg while moving up the Old Guard Shield (OGS) table at the same time.

This will be Charleston’s third away match of the season as well as their third OGS match. Both are important, but the club’s focus will always be on the league first. Of course the OGS is important too, but it’s more of a thing for us supporters… at least for now. That might change as the season goes on: being the team to hoist the shield for the first time ever will be a distinction every side in contention will hope to achieve.

As for the Battery’s opponent, the Harrisburg City Islanders will be happy to return home, where they have not played in over a month. Since their last home match, Harrisburg have drawn two and lost two.

Those performances saw the City Islanders fall to 12th in the Eastern Conference.

Season So Far

Charleston: The Battery are on top of the Eastern Conference and currently hold the third best record in the entire USL behind only Real Monarchs SLC and San Antonio FC. Charleston has been starting every match lately on the front foot, putting pressure on every defense they have faced right from the first whistle.

The difference between the Battery and most USL clubs is that this has really been a entire club performance. The Battery have seen six different players score and seven different players register at least one assist. In fact, 15 of their 17 goals have come from an assist. This club is special and continues to show the rest of the Eastern Conference that they are the class of the field at the moment.

Harrisburg: The City Islanders have been on the road for a while and that has put them in an early hole that they hope to start climbing out of on Saturday night. They are undefeated at home with a win over Bethlehem Steel FC and a 1–1 draw against the Baby Simbas of OCB. Aaron Wheeler leads the team in scoring with just two goals. Goals have come at a premium for Harrisburg who have had several games go without any. However, you have to remember that everything seems to come easier at home, and Harrisburg is hoping that is true for them this Saturday.

Moyer’s Match Prediction

I see the Battery walking out of Harrisburg with all three points on Saturday. When you look at the goal differential for the two clubs (Charleston +10 Harrisburg -2) there is no comparison, regardless of where they’re playing. Charleston is an offensive power that is firing on all cylinders right now and Harrisburg is hoping to turn their season around against a club whose top goals scorer (Super Romario Williams) has as many goals (six) as the entire Harrisburg team. Even though Harrisburg are yet to lose at home this season, the Battery should put them away early and hold onto the top spot in the East.

Final Score: Battery Win 3–1

Supporters Corner (Old Guard Shield)

This will be Charleston’s third OGS match. If they win and Richmond either ties or falls to Rochester, the Battery will be back on top of the OGS table.

It’s still early, but being on top of both the OGS and USL Eastern Conference tables is huge for trash talking, the most important thing when it comes to supporter culture. Let’s hope they pull it off.

Be sure to check back after the game for our recap, read all our Battery coverage here (there’s been a lot!), and as always, follow @SoccerNSweetTea on Twitter for all the latest Carolina soccer news.