Harrisburg comes to Charleston for last home match of the regular season
The Battery can move back into second place or drop to fourth in the USL Eastern Conference tonight.
A win tonight against the tenth-place Harrisburg City Islanders and the Charleston Battery can move into second place in the East. That is not guaranteed of course since Charlotte could move ahead on goal differential with a surprise victory at first-place Louisville. But no matter what, a win on Saturday would be huge in potentially securing a home playoff match and possibly two with a top-two finish.
Over the last ten meetings between these two historic sides, the Battery have won seven, drawn twice and only lost once. That loss was back in July of 2014. Hopefully, the Battery can put together another winning performance and close out their 2017 home record with another victory on Saturday night.
A big part of the Battery’s recent success has been Cuban forward Heviel Cordoves. He has scored six goals in six matches and picked up the equalizer last week in Ottawa.
This is a big match for the Battery but with the prospect of multiple home playoff matches on the line and the hype of the regular season finale, I expect the boys in black and yellow to come out firing and hopefully put the Islanders away quickly.
Old Guard Shield
Along with the second place position in the USL Eastern Conference table, the top spot in the Old Guard Shield will be on the line Saturday night as well. If the Battery win and Pittsburgh does not, then the Battery will hoist the first Old Guard Shield.
It will be interesting to see how the Old Guard Shield finishes because technically Pittsburgh, Charleston or Richmond could win it. Richmond would need the Battery and Pittsburgh to both lose and for Pittsburgh to lose by three goals. Pittsburgh just needs to win and the Battery need three points and a loss or draw for Pittsburgh.
Carolina Challenge Cup
This week, the Battery front office announced the lineup for next year’s Carolina Challenge Cup (CCC). America’s oldest running professional soccer team will welcome two of the newest clubs, Atlanta United FC and Minnesota United and last year’s CCC Champion and regular attendee, Columbus Crew SC.
More details will come out as the CCC gets closer but we do know that the CCC will take place between February 17, 21 and 24 of next year. This will be the 14th installment of the tournament and looks to be another great event.
The schedule for the games are listed below:
Saturday, February 17th
Atlanta United vs. Columbus Crew SC (5:00 PM EST)
Charleston Battery vs. Minnesota United (7:30 PM EST)
Wednesday, February 21st [DOLLAR BEER NIGHT]
Charleston Battery vs. Columbus Crew SC (5:00 PM EST)
Atlanta United vs. Minnesota United (7:30 PM EST)
Saturday, February 24th
Columbus Crew SC vs. Minnesota United (5:00 PM EST)
Charleston Battery vs. Atlanta United (7:30 PM EST)
Tonight’s Game Details
What: Charleston Battery vs. Harrisburg City Islanders (USL regular season)
Where: MUSC Health Stadium, Charleston
When: 7pm ET
Recent Form
Charleston: D | L | W | W | L
Harrisburg: W | W | W | D | W
Moyer’s Match Prediction:
The Battery win. Nothing more needs to be said. They are the better team, they are playing at home, playoff positioning is on the line, and there is no reason they shouldn’t walk away with anything other than all three points.
Final Score: Battery WIN (3–0)
Thanks for reading! Be sure to check back after the games for our recaps, read all our Battery coverage here, and as always, follow @SoccerNSweetTea on Twitter for all the latest Carolina soccer news.
