The Charleston Battery completed a dramatic three-goal comeback and secured a 5-4 victory in a penalty shootout against Hartford Athletic following a 3-3 draw after extra time during the Eastern Conference Semifinals of the USL Championship Playoffs.
Playing in front of a sellout crowd at Patriots Point on Saturday, Charleston faced a 0-3 deficit at halftime after Hartford capitalized on first-half goals from Michee Ngalina, Barry Coffey, and Sadat Anaku. Despite outshooting the visitors 10 to six in the opening period, the Battery entered the break empty-handed.
Head Coach Ben Pirmann addressed the team during the intermission. We talked at halftime,
Pirmann said. We just said, ‘Look, you just have to chip it away.’ It didn’t go well in the first half again. The playoffs in this country and in general are massive, crazy, emotional rollercoasters.
Charleston launched a fierce offensive response in the second half. Midfielder Emilio Ycaza converted a penalty kick drawn by Langston Blackstock to put the Battery on the scoreboard, bringing the score to 1-3 in the 80th minute. Just minutes later in the 83rd minute, Colton Swan headed in a corner kick service from Jeremy Kelly to narrow Hartford’s lead to 2-3.
As the match ticked into the final moments of regulation, Kirill Pakhomov delivered the tying goal in the 97th minute. Houssou Landry sent a cross from outside the box to the far post, where Pakhomov connected with a diving header to equalize at 3-3.
I think [Coach] Ben set us up to go down and come right back after that.
Neither side broke the deadlock through extra time, forcing a penalty shootout to determine who advanced. Both teams converted their first four attempts from the spot. In the fifth round, goalkeeper John Berner—subbed in late by Pirmann specifically for the shootout—denied Augi Williams. Jeremy Kelly then stepped up to score the decisive penalty past goalkeeper Antony Siaha, sealing the 5-4 shootout win.
The victory advances Charleston to the Eastern Conference Final for the third time in the last four years. The Battery will host Louisville City FC at Patriots Point on Saturday, November 14, with kickoff scheduled for 6 p.m. ET.
