Charleston Battery 3 Louisville City FC 2
Charleston Battery Gets Starting Lineup Right, Louisville City Does Not
It would be a night where one side got their starting eleven just right, the other leaving their side in disarray. When it was all said and done Ben Pirmann would see Nicholas Markanich get a first half brace, Danny Cruz scramble to make changes at halftime, and Charleston Battery ultimately hanging on to knock Louisville City from the unbeaten while staying unbeaten themselves 3-2.
It was wholesale changes for Louisville City, 5 changes from the victory against Indy Eleven. It was obvious Danny Cruz was looking to shore up the defensive frailties. Early on the plan didn’t work as Charleston controlled the opening moments of the match. The first set piece went to Charleston in the second minute, an Aaron Molloy corner that forced Damian Las into a save from an unmarked Emilio Ycaza header before the flag was raised for offside.
Even with the early defensive questions it would be Louisville City that would take the early lead. Aiden McFadden would win the corner for Louisville City. Carlos Moguel would take the corner kick and send it far post. While MD Myers, Mark Segbers nor Nathan DosSantos didn’t leap, Jorge Gonzalez Asensi would and put the finish home on the far post. It was poor defending from the Battery all around, the three all losing where Gonzalez Asensi was on the far post, MD Myers the guiltiest of them all.
Photo courtesy of the Charleston Battery
Louisville City’s defensive problems from Saturday would rear their head immediately off the restart. Juan Torres would start the sequence by playing a delayed give and go with Chris Allen. Torres was able to get to the end line and center. The ball would ultimately would be tapped back to Chris Allen, his initial shot hitting the post. The rebound would fall to MD Myers, who lost Arturo Ordonez to finish on the right side of the near post. The entire Louisville City defense collapsed on the initial ball in by Torres and no one scrambled to deny the second chance by Myers. 84 seconds after going down 1-0 the hosts were level.
Charleston didn’t have to do much to keep up the pressure on Louisville City. Five minutes after equalizing, Aaron Molloy would run pivot to Mark Segbers, would who play it on to Nicholas Markanich. Markanich would see Emilio Ycaza unmarked and lay what he thought was an assist scoring pass. Ycaza’s shot was with pace, but Damian Las was strong to the task to save.
The 21st minute would see Aaron Molloy’s set pieces yield results. After Leland Archer was fouled by Jorge Gonzales Asensi, Aaron Molloy would put the set piece into the penalty area. Leland Archer would be the first to leap to the ball, Kyle Adams would used a raised arm to defend. The ball would end up off Adams’s outstretched arm, the referee immediately pointing to the spot. If your arm is above the shoulder, expect the penalty to be called. Nicholas Markanich would put the spot kick down the middle, Damian Las going to Markanich’s left and just like that the Charlston Battery dominance showed on the scoresheet 2-1.
On the half hour, Charlston Battery would make it three with a goal of the week contender. Juan Torres would play a beautiful diagonal ball to Nicholas Markanich. Markanich would simply keep his run going, chest the ball into the penalty area and before the second bounce of the ball would blast one far post. The pace of the shot would prevent Damian Las from getting down and before he could it was 3-1 Charleston. Markanich’s body position after settling the ball with his chest allowed him to get his shot off before Arturo Ordonez could get back to defend. Make no mistake about it, Charleston Battery deserved every bit of their 3-1 lead.
Louisville City were hanging on scraps for chances in the first half. Immediately after giving up the equalizer, Louisville City would see Carlos Moguel lose his footing off a third phase after a second corner kick. Amadou Dia would get a rare opportunity forward before the half hour in an attempt to equalize, his centering ball to Ray Serrano would end up with a poor Serrano header right at Adam Girnwis. Louisville City’s best chance to get back into the contest would come in the 40th minute when Jorge Gonzalez Asensi would win a poor Charleston attempt to play out of the back. The centering pass was off target allowing the Charleston defender to deflect the ball off Wilson Harris for a goal kick, expect last ditch defending for the hosts. Going into halftime, Charleston had better positional shape, better attacking sense and the scoreline reflected the dominance the hosts had in the opening 45 minutes. The Battery were so confident Juan Torres played the pitching wedge from 40 yards out in the last minute of first half stoppage time that would go high and the effort didn’t look out of place.
Danny Cruz wasted no time in making a triple change at halftime. Carlos Moguel, Aiden McFadden and Jorge Gonzalez Asensi would all not return for the second half, Adrien Perez, Elijah Wynder and Jansen Wilson starting the second half for Louisville City. Elijah Wynder would finally win Louisville City a ball in the midfield four minutes into the second half and send Wilson Harris off to the races. Harris, already beating Mark Segbers, made a near identical run he made for one of the goals against Indy Eleven. However, unlike his goal Saturday, Harris cut the angle too close and central as he went far post. That allowed Adam Girnwis to have all possible angles the shot could have taken covered, an easy save the result.
Charleston would take a page from the Miami FC playbook to hand Louisville City a lifeline three minutes later. After Nathan DosSantos would concede a corner, the ball would be whipped in on the near post. The initial flick towards goal would start from Arturo Ordonez, Mark Segbers would assist in putting the ball right in the path of Taylor Davila. With Nathan DosSantos slipping on the grass, Davila would have the point-blank empty net finish from 4 yards out. Adam Girnwis bit too hard on the near post runs allowing the far post to be too exposed. The substitutions would pay immediate dividends to make it game on at 3-2.
Charleston would lose some of the teeth in their attack near the hour when Nicholas Markanich went down, the trainer signaling he had to come off. I couldn’t tell if it was his hip or ankle, but he walked gingerly off the pitch. Diego Gutierrez would replace the man who scored a brace on three shots.
The game would settle down here, Louisville City getting more possession than they had all night. The chances however would be few. Jansen Wilson’s cross to Wilson Harris would be just behind Harris, the Harris header ending up across the face of goal. A 71st minute free kick by Adrien Perez would be headed back to Jansen Wilson, a rushed shot from 30 yards blasted over the crossbar.
Ben Pirmann’s decision to bring Jake LaCava on for Juan Torres in the 75th minute settled Charleston, and allowed the hosts to find a second wind forward. Four minutes after his inclusion, Emilio Ycaza would get to the end line and center to LaCava. With Kyle Adams not truly defending on the near post, LaCava would get a free header on goal. He ultimately would put it wide of the far post, a rare chance wasted for the hosts on the night.
Charleston Battery would have a chance to put the game away in the 84th minute. Aaron Molloy again would play point in the attack, setting up Emilio Ycaza. Yzaca would ping the ball forward to Jake LaCava before continuing his run into the penalty area. LaCava would get to the end line and put a centering ball in. The LaCava centering ball was heading for Damian Las, but Arturo Ordonez would head the ball sky high. Damian Las would go chasing after the ball, and run right though Emilio Ycaza in his effort to collect the ball. The referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Aaron Molloy would take the penalty in place of the substituted Nicholas Markanich, and telegraph his kick to Molloy’s left, Las easily able to get down to save it. Las would complete the sequence by denying MD Myers follow-up, the visitors having life.
Louisville City would get their best chance to equalize in the 89th minute. Mark Segbers would get an arm to Jake Morris as Morris was beating him from 28 yards out, with Morris going to ground a free kick was awarded instead of playing any possible advantage. Wilson Harris would get the opening in the wall he was looking for to put one on the near post, but the free kick was poor and skied over the crossbar. Louisville half heartedly shouted for a penalty in the fourth minute of second half stoppage time when Adrien Perez went down the second he felt Nathan DosSantos breathe on him in the penalty area, the referee immediately waving no dice and Charleston held on from there.
Plain and simple, Danny Cruz’s got his team sheet wrong tonight. You cannot make 5 changes this early in the season and expect any cohesion. Charleston built for depth in the offseason, and only felt the need to make 2 changes. Charleston played like a well-oiled machine, Louisville City looked disjointed and lost. Louisville City has a defensive shape problem and the last two games have shown it. If you can withstand their initial pressure onslaught you can get to this Louisville City team. Charleston only looked bad on set pieces tonight, something you don’t expect from Charleston. Outside of one 15-minute spell, Charleston were the better team in open play and that’s because they played with structure. It’s going to be a long 11 days for Louisville City because I would expect nothing but defensive drills in Louisville. Charleston will hope the injury to Nicholas Markanich isn’t too serious as they work on defending corners, the only flaw to this night.
Louisville City = goal-fest!
A surprise result, although maybe it shouldn't be. Pirmann isn't who I want to face with a short turnaround between games.
[Edit] The Open Cup is also likely a huge reason why Cruz rotated players from the previous lineup. Charleston doesn't have a Cup game next week, so didn't have that same pressure.