Coming into this match, I really did not give Harrisburg a chance. Yes, they were playing at home. Yes, this was an Old Guard Shield rivalry match. And yes, Harrisburg was hoping for some revenge after last year’s loss at home to the Battery. But I really thought the red-hot, first-place Battery would stroll in and walk out with three points.

That was not the case on Saturday night.

In fact with the exception of three minutes where Charleston scored both of their goals, Harrisburg dominated every aspect of the game. They earned their point, while the Battery likely left Harrisburg feeling like they let two points get away.

The Game

Throughout the first half, the City Islanders looked the side to score first, and that they did, in the 23rd minute when Rasheed Olabiyi scored Harrisburg’s first goal in their last 164 minutes of league play.

Soon after the second half started, the Battery made it even tougher on themselves to take a win on the road when Tah Brian Anunga received his second yellow and headed off to the showers in the 54th minute. That left the Battery to play with 10 men, down a goal, for the final 36 minutes.

However, when your back is against the wall and you are facing your first loss in five league games, potentially falling down to second in the USL Eastern Conference table, you need someone to step up.

That someone was Dante Marini.

Dante came into the match and immediately changed the game. He helped set up both of the goals scored by the Battery. The first was a cross into the box that was laid off by Kotaro Higashi right to Ataulla Guerra who banged the ball into the back of the net.

Less then a minute later, Dante created another chance, and this time Romario Williams finished his league leading seventh goal of the season to give the Battery a 2–1 lead.

The improbable one-goal lead lasted into a surprising SIX minutes of stoppage time, when of course, a ball was crossed into the box, headed several times and somehow found its way into the back of the net, giving a draw to the home team.

Harrisburg will obviously be happy with this draw but Battery supporters will have wished the game ended with Charleston on top. Even though Harrisburg held more possession and were more dangerous in front of goal through the entire match AND had a man advantage for most of the second half, the Battery had the lead late and, for the second time this season, lost it late to a team from PA.

I hope this is not a trend going forward, especially with an 11am kickoff in Bethlehem on Thursday.

At the end of the day, what does matter is that the Battery are still on top of the USL Eastern Conference and have still only lost one match this season.

Side-note: I cannot write this recap without mentioning the referee. I try my best never to blame a loss, win or draw on a referee, but what I will do is call out a referee that has too much influence on the game. By my count, there were nine cards given out: five for the Battery and four for Harrisburg.

That is insane.

The Battery play a physical game and I know that will lead to more cards as the games go on. Also those of us in Charleston will never forget the play of Battery legend Zach Prince. We would actually try to predict which minute he would receive a yellow for physical play. Most of us would guess the first half!

However, you have to let the players play. Too many cards change the dynamics of the game and really slow down the flow of play. I just hope this flurry of cards does not continue, otherwise the Battery will have to start relying heavily on their bench this season, starting this Thursday in Bethlehem where Charleston will be without Forrest (Shaq) Lasso and Tah Brian Anunga.

Moyer’s MOTM

Dante Marini

For the first time this season, I am 100% in agreement with the Battery’s MOTM. Dante brought a spark that Charleston needed. They were down a man and down 1–0 on the road. Both are situations few teams are able to dig themselves out of.

Dante is a game changer and he lived up to his song “He’s small! He’s tough! He’s SEXY enough! He’s DANTE! DANTE!”

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