Battery Crushes Miami FC 5-0
- Forrest Wimberly
- 11 minutes ago
- 4 min read
It was going to be a Saturday night, back-to-school celebration at The Point as Miami FC visited for a USL Championship match. Mother Nature had other ideas. Heavy thunderstorms complete with dazzling lightning displays postponed the match until Monday night but that didn’t dampen the Battery attack.
Miguel Berry notched a brace as Maalique Foster, Graham Smith, and Alec Hughes all added a goal each to push the Battery to the comfortable 5-0 win. Adding to Miami FC’s poor performance was a red card in the 35th minute to Denilson Milanes that put the visitors at a huge disadvantage for the majority of the match.
Charleston would be ruthless in their attack exploiting the extra space as they methodically picked apart the Miami FC defense pumping in five goals past Curacao World Cup hero Elroy Room. Charleston with the win extends their home unbeaten run to 24 regular season matches which is the longest current streak in the USL.
Charleston’s Maalique Foster opened the scoring in the 19th minute as the Battery patiently built the ball up the right flank into the Miami end of the field. A quick combination at the top of the box between Foster and Miguel Berry put Foster in all alone as he slotted the ball past the onrushing Room into the lower right corner of the net for the early Charleston goal.
Miami FC was reduced to 10 men in the 35th minute after a hard challenge from Charleston prompted an even harsher return foul just seconds later down the field. Denilson Milanes provided a kick out at a player on the ground and a hand to the face of the Battery player to earn the straight red.
As the final seconds of stoppage time expired it looked like both teams were content to head to the locker room but Charleston made one final attack that caught Miami FC napping. The ball was slipped into the feet of Miguel Berry at the top of the box where he quickly spun with the ball at his feet losing his mark and entered the penalty box. Berry then dribbled the Miami keeper and shot the ball into the empty net as the Miami defense scrambled attempting to slide and block the effort.
Berry was on his brace just 90 seconds into the second half as he ripped a swerving shot into the back post side netting with the outside of his right boot to stun the now helpless Miami defense. Berry barely celebrated the wondergoal as he calmly walked away with a huge smile on his face as he was mobbed by his teammates.
“We did a really good job actually overloading them and their back line,” said Miguel Berry. “I think our back four, our back six really, did well in attracting them, and that allowed me and Jeremy [Kelly] just to kind of roam free. And within that, the first goal was an incredibly well-worked goal. The second one as well, in tight spaces, I don't think there's many teams in this league that can play like that through those spaces.”
“And after that, it just kind of opened up,” continued Berry. “I'm just proud of the guys. Clean sheet. And we got through the game mostly without injuries. And it was a good feeling, and on to next week.”
A Battery corner kick in the 62nd minute was served in from the left corner and was punched down inside the goalmouth by Miami’s Room. The ball bounced off a Miami defender to the feet of Graham Smith who smashed the ball past the sliding Room for the commanding 4-0 lead.
The Battery kept attacking and made numerous substitutions over the final 30 minutes of play as they never let Miami FC find time on the ball or grow back into the game.
Charleston scored one final goal in the 86th minute as substitute Alex Hughes headed in a cross from the left flank to seal the 5-0 victory. The Battery have now scored a USL Championship leading 44 goals this season and have scored five goals in a match for the fourth time this season.
John Berner played all 90 minutes in the Battery nets making one save in the shutout win. Elroy Room made six saves in the Miami net on the eleven shots he faced with most of these coming over the final 20 minutes of the match.
“We've been good at home,” said Battery Head Coach Ben Pirmann. “We're brave, we go for it. Maalique [Foster] scored a great, great goal to get us going 1-0 with the nice build-up, and Miguel [Berry] slipped him, and we played some good football there. For us, the focus was on being selfless, running in behind, and allowing those transition moments to try to tilt our favor. And I thought we did a good job on that for sure.”
The Battery remains in second place in the USL Championship Eastern Conference with 36 points (11W-7L-3T) and have a trip to the desert to play the Las Vegas Lights on August 29.
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