Battery Falls 0-2 at Indy Eleven
- Forrest Wimberly
- 17 hours ago
- 3 min read
NATIONAL SOCCER NEWS: www.nationalsoccernetwork.com
It was a very warm afternoon kickoff at IU Indy as the Charleston Battery visited the Indy Eleven for a 2026 Independence Day USL Championship match. The field turf and sunny skies only added to the heat in this 4 PM kickoff.
The Battery had the better of play and more scoring chances than the hosts up until the 68th minute when a last-man, DOGSO moment reduced the visitors to 10 men and gave the Indy Eleven the advantage down the stretch to carve out the 2-0 win.
The Indy Eleven had the opening chance of the match in the 15th minute as a powerful, rising shot from Indy’s Cam Lindley forced a strong hand from Battery keeper Luis Zamudio to turn the ball harmlessly away.
The Battery looked to have the opening goal of the match in the 23rd minute after some pinball passing inside the Indy area put the ball in the nets only to see the goal off the foot of Colton Swan be disallowed on an offside call keeping the match scoreless.
Miguel Berry hit a screamer of a shot in the 39th minute that was always rising over the bar and a half-chance off a corner kick ended the Battery threats in the first half.
Indy put a ball into the nets off a cross in first-half stoppage time only to have the offside flag take this goal away sending the teams to the locker room scoreless.
Berry again had a chance to open the scoring in the 58th minute ripping a low shot just wide of the left post before the red card to defender Graham Smith in the 68th minute gave the Indy Eleven the opening they were looking to find. A through ball in the midfield forced Smith to make contact with the racing Indy forward as the moment broke up the Indy scoring opportunity forcing the DOGSO red card.
Indy got their opening goal in the 82nd minute as a free kick was played into the back post to then be headed back across the face of the goal where Josh O’Brien applied the final touch off his thigh to run the ball into the net and the Eleven into the 1-0 lead.
A final push from the Battery after a flurry of substitutions created one final chance in the 86th minute as Douglas Martinez tried to head home a Battery free kick but was unable to guide the ball past the Indy keeper.
Bruno Rendon scored the second Indy goal in the 90+4 minute to put the game away. Indy had won the ball in the midfield on a crunching tackle and then quickly sprang the ball forward to find Rendon all alone on the weak side of the field. Rendon collected the ball, committed Zamudio, and then finished 1V1 with a powerful, low shot for the 2-0 victory.
Battery forward Maalique Williams set a personal milestone in the match with his 150th USL Championship appearance.
"It's a setback. It's tough,” said Battery Head Coach Ben Pirmann about the result. “We needed to come out of that game with at least a point. I thought it was there for us to get all three points, so it's definitely disappointing. But, at the end of the day, you've just got to give credit to Indy Eleven for winning the game. They deserve it.”
The loss snaps Charleston’s USLC three-game winning streak and the six-game winning streak versus the Eleven. The Battery in the result stays in second place in the Eastern Conference with a record of 8W-5L-2T (26 points).
The Battery now turn their attention to July 11 and their Prinx Tires USL Cup match as they host the Charlotte Independence at Patriots Point. The Battery and Independence are tied atop the USL Cup Group 6 standings with both teams on 8 points.
The winner of the match on July 11 will win the group and advance to the USL Cup quarterfinals to be played in August.
Kickoff on the 11th is set for 7:30 PM at the Point.
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