Rowdies and Battery Share The Points in No Quarter Derby
Recap:
Late goals from both Tampa Bay and Charleston saw the teams share the points in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina with a final score of 1-1.
The Rowdies’ Charlie Ostrem had the first shot of the game, with his left-footed effort narrowly missing the right side of the goal. A good first effort, showing the Rowdies had the intent to take chances and create shots.
The opposite happened, as Charleston held majority of the possesion of the game. This left the Rowdies relying on their defense, which let them down multiple times in the match.
Somehow, the Rowdies managed to put on a performance uglier than the kits that Charleston debuted for this match.
Charleston’s Wilmer Cabrera had a shot half an hour into the match, with the effort going just wide of the Rowdies’ goal. The Rowdies were too slow in closing down the space, that left open a shooting lane for the Battery to exploit.
Charleston’s Emilio Ycaza had a shot which tested Rowdies keeper Jahmali Waite, whose diving effort steered Ycaza’s shot wide. This is another example how the Rowdies left an open shooting lane open for the Battery to take a chance on goal. It was good ball movement from Charleston, and a good save from Waite. However, a part of me feels like the Week 2 Rowdies that played against Pittsburgh would not have let that shot happen. They just felt a step behind the whole match.
Nanana Houssou had a shot beat goalkeeper Jahmali Waite, but was cleared away by Brian Schaefer on the line. If not for Schaefer’s perfect positioning, that was a guaranteed goal for the Battery.
With 20 minutes to play, Charleston’s Laurent Kissiedou found himself in tons of space in between Nathan Dossantos and Charlie Ostrem. Kissiedou’s headed effort bounced off the right post, a lucky break for the Rowdies after a zonal marking breakdown.
Minutes later, a beautiful Mattheus Oliveira through ball found Sebastian Cruz crashing back post, who chipped Charleston’s goalkeeper Zamudio, and gave the Rowdies the lead.
Charleston wasted little time finding an equalizer, a Nate Messer corner found Douglas Martínez on a run to the front post, and his header landed in the back of the Rowdies net. The Battery evened up the score with less than 10 minutes to go. The score was now at 1-1, which it would remain at until the full-time whistle blew.
Around the League:
Louisville City hosted Sporting Jax. Louisville City had dropped points and were looking to get back on track against struggling Jacksonville. It was a low-action game, with Jacksonville parking the bus. However, late into stoppage time, Jake Morris played a great ball to Jansen Wilson, who had no issue giving Lou City the lead with a goal of the week contender. Lou City claimed all three points against Jax.
Loudoun United FC travelled to Connecticut to face Hartford Athletic. Hartford had a great chance in the first 3 minutes, with TJ Presthus’ effort being saved by the Loudoun shotstopper. Hartford had another chance from Augi Williams, who had his header saved and deflected off the bar. The last good chance for Hartford was a pullback cross from Sebastian Anderson, but was unable to get past the Loudoun defence. Neither team was able to break the deadlock, and the score remained 0-0.
Miami FC faced Western Conference club Phoenix Rising FC. Phoenix, who has had a slower start to the season, made quick work of the South Florida club. Ihsan Sacko scored a penalty 8 minutes into the game, capitalizing off a Miami mistake. Former Rowdie Charlie Dennis doubled Rising’s lead. The goal came off a deflection, and Dennis had no issue scoring the close-range effort. Sacko scored his second of the night as a through ball found him in acres of space, rounding the keeper, and scoring in the open net. Rising beat Miami FC 3-0.
Detroit City FC travelled north to the Steel City to face Pittsburgh. Albert Dikwa wasted no time and put the Riverhounds in front after a nice finish over the Detroit keeper. Detroit City FC searched for an equalizer, with a chance coming from a left-footed shot from Connor Rutz. The shot required a quick reaction from the Pittsburgh keeper. A couple minutes later, a mistake in the Detroit City backline turned the ball over to Dikwa, who was unable to capitalize. With less than 10 minutes to go, Albert Dikwa capitalized on another DCFC backline mistake, and slotted home his second goal of the game, securing the brace. The action was not completely over, as Detroit pulled one back from an impressive volley from Chisholm Egbuchulam to pull one back for the visitors. The goal was too little too late, and Pittsburgh held strong and tallied all three points.
On Sunday, Birmingham Legion hosted Indy Eleven. Birmingham took the lead through a Tyler Pasher penalty. A minute later, Indy’s Anthony Herbert headed a beautiful ball down, which required an impressive save from the Birmingham keeper. After halftime, Indy’s Aodhan Quinn’s volley required another impressive save from the Birmingham goalie. Indy Eleven finally found their equalizer through Edward Kizza, whose volley flew into the back of the net. Indy scored again minutes later, with Josh O’Brian’s lunging effort giving Indy the lead with ten minutes to play. After a great run and pullback cross from Birmingham’s Gevork Diarbian, Sam McIllhatton found himself wide open in the box, and tied the game up in the dying minutes. The game finished 2-2, with the late goal salvaging a point for the Legion.
Finishing this matchweek off, we have a new leader at the top of the Eastern Conference title. With Jansen Wilson’s late-game heroics, Lou City now sit at the top of the table again with 16 points. The Rowdies are in second place with 14. Charleston Battery, Detroit City, Hartford Athletic, and Pittsburgh Riverhounds all have 10 points. Indy Eleven and Miami FC have 9 points, with Birmingham and Brooklyn sharing 6 points outside of the playoff picture. Rhode Island FC has 5 points in 11th, Loudoun United FC in 12th has 4, and finally, Sporting Jax has just one point in last.
There are a couple of midweek matchups, with Rhode Island FC facing Charleston, and Brooklyn facing Sacramento Republic FC. Other than those games, the tables will remain unchanged, as the first matchweek of the USL Cup starts this weekend.
The Bigger Picture:
The Good: Russell Cicerone. In a game where the Rowdies were outplayed, it was nice to see Cicerone showing a lot of heart and will to win. The Rowdies were on the back foot, it was refreshing to see an impact player on the team trying to win the ball back to generate some sort of attack.
I also really, really like Sebastian Cruz in the right midfielder position. He has shown he is one of our most versatile attackers. He can provide good crosses, isn’t afraid to take on attackers, and can put shots on frame. I really think right now he could be an underdog for player of the year.
Other than that, it was a pretty underwhelming game.
The Bad: The Rowdies like to have the ball. If they lose it, they press mercilessly to get it back. Charleston kept the ball against the Rowdies, and constantly had the Green and Gold chasing the game.
Charleston had a 57% possession to Tampa Bay’s 43%, but watching the game it definitely felt worse from a Rowdies’ perspective.
The Rowdies were also very lucky to keep Charleston out of the net for as long as they did. Charleston had really good chances, and were just unable to convert. Cabrera’s shot, Houssou’s shot, and Kissiedou’s header all should have been goals.
One trend I am starting to notice is Charlie Ostrem’s defending. He struggled against Oakland, conceding an own goal in the process. In the game against Charleston, his defending left a lot to be desired.
In Laurent Kissiedou’s header that hit the post, he was completely unmarked in the box. Ostrem picked him up late, but there was no way he could be able to contest a header from his position. Later in the game, Ostrem wouldn’t cover himself in glory again. After the restart from the Tampa Bay goal, the ball was hoofed up to Kissiedou, over Ostrem’s head. While not an ideal spot for a defender, Ostrem is quick and could catch up to Kissiedou. Instead, Ostrem tries to jump and intercept the ball in the air. He mistimes his jump horribly, misses the ball completely, and leaves a wide-open space for Kissiedou to run into.
Kissidou played a cross in, which was deflected out for a corner. Charleston scored from that corner.
Now, as I mentioned earlier, the team did not play great. However, Ostrem’s performance really stuck out to me as the worst of the game.
Finally, Lewis Hilton needs to be on the field at all times. The team worked so much better with him pulling the strings. Lewis is a pillar of this team, and he needs to be on the field for this Rowdies machine to run as smoothly as possible.
Final Thoughts: I am always going to be happy with a point away at Charleston. The Rowdies always struggle there, and this game was no different.
Charleston controlled the ball much better than the Rowdies, and had more clear-cut chances. Good saves from Jahmali and a post deflection going for the Rowdies allowed them to leave South Carolina still undefeated in the league.
It was not pretty, but a point is a point. I am slightly nervous about the lack of creativity, but the team is bound to have poor showings. The season is thirty games long, and they have time to sort themselves out.
Coming Up/Match Prediction:
The Rowdies are back in Al Lang Stadium to open up their 2026 USL Cup account against USL League One Club Sarasota Paradise.
The Rowdies already defeated Sarasota earlier in the season, a 1-0 win in the charity Cochol Cup match. The win came from a Pedro Dolabella header late in the second half.
Recently making the jump from USL League Two, Sarasota have struggled in the first part of their professional career. Sarasota sit in 15th place in the USL League One table, with 4 points from 6 games.
Sarasota will have a midweek match, a home game against Corpus Christi FC (who has one of my favorite logos in all of football). While Corpus Christi FC has had a rough start to the season, it is still an extra game that Sarasota will have to play before traveling across the Skyway Bridge to face the Rowdies.
I don’t know how the Rowdies will line up. I don’t know if Coach Casciato will rotate the squad or stay with the team we’ve grown used to seeing.
Nonetheless, I expect a dominant Rowdies showing. My prediction is 4-1 to the good guys.
