Battery’s Open Cup run comes to a close in defeat at Inter Miami

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. (May 9, 2023) – The Charleston Battery’s 2023 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup came to a close on Tuesday following a 1-0 road defeat to Inter Miami CF at DRV PNK Stadium. Charleston fought hard throughout the match but an unlucky own goal in the second half proved to be the difference. The focus for Charleston now shifts to USL Championship action, which starts up again on Saturday at Patriots Point.

Charleston started the match with high intensity and looked to get an early edge over the MLS side. Augi Williams and Nick Markanich led much of the charge forward, until Markanich was replaced early by Jesse Randall due to an apparent injury. Goalkeeper Trey Muse was tested only a handful of times and would make two decisive saves in the first half.

Randall provided among Charleston’s best looks on goal with a strike off a counterattack in the 38th minute. His shot on target forced Miami goalkeeper Nick Marsman into a diving save.

The Battery and Miami went into the interval tied at 0-0.

Play resumed with the opening goal occurring within the first five minutes of the second half. Juan Sebastian Palma unluckily slotted the ball into his own net after a deflected clearance attempt. Charleston, however, were undeterred and continued to press into Miami’s defensive third.

Williams nearly leveled the score in the 71st minute with a shot off the post. The striker worked his way into the box and the deflection was just beyond Robbie Crawford’s reach to tap it in. Miami almost doubled their lead moments later but Shanyder Borgelin skied his short-range shot over the crossbar.

Charleston continued to fight in the waning minutes of the match. The Battery appeared to have drawn a Miami handball in the 90th minute inside the box, however the appeals for a handball were not honored. Miami saw out the 1-0 victory, ending the Battery’s Open Cup run in the Round of 32.

Head Coach Ben Pirmann and defender AJ Cochran discussed the match after the final whistle, with key quotes to follow.

Coach Pirmann on his takeaways from tonight’s match…

I think it was a pretty good game. We played with courage, we played with bravery. Dante [Polvara] and Chris [Allan] in midfield did a really good job of relieving some pressure. I’m proud of the effort, proud of the attitude. We showed courage, we played with the belief and we pressed high at moments.

It was good to advance this far. I think it also leaves a little bit of a taste in our mouth, where we want more and how we do that. We just have to continue to fine-tune some things. We had two massive attackers out of the lineup for the game and we still went with courage. Nothing to get too high or too low about, but it’s disappointing not to advance. You can also be proud of the effort, hang your head on that and just get better for the next time out.

I’m very appreciative of all the supporters that traveled. We had a good showing. It was good for our guys to be able to play with that courage, play with that fearlessness. But, next time we want to push to get the result and not settle for anything less.

Coach Pirmann on the lessons learned from tonight’s match…

The positives are that we worked the ball well. I think we need to be a little bit more selfless, a little bit more aware of our moments when we break out. We need to break the lines a little bit quicker, versus settle and go side to side. Out of possession, we were good, we were organized.

Miami made us suffer and I think that tilted some things at the end of the game. We went down a goal and we didn’t put our heads down, we just kept going for it and played the game in their end. That’s a good team; massive club, very well coached. It’s disappointing not to advance, but that’s football.

Cochran on tonight’s performance against Miami…

I thought we started the game very well, our first half was excellent. We executed the game plan well, we created quality opportunities to score goals in the first half and Trey [Muse] had a really nice save. In the second half. we could have done a little better keeping the ball, but we still fought really hard. Super unlucky to give up that goal. I don’t think [Miami] really had too many quality chances and we created chances of our own.

It’s always a bummer to lose a game, but I think we came out here and showed what we can do against a quality MLS side and like I said, unfortunate to lose, but nothing to hang our heads on and move on to Saturday.

Cochran on turning the page to Saturday’s game against San Antonio…

We’re going up against defending champs; we’re excited for that. This is a great step to get us prepared, you know, playing a quality MLS team with dangerous players. We’re going to be playing dangerous players on Saturday. The one difference is we’re going to be at home in front of our home fans, which is going to be amazing. We’re going to go back to work Thursday and Friday to prepare for Saturday. This [loss] stings, but a lot of positive takeaways to this match to take into Saturday.

Cochran on the travling support for the Battery in Miami…

Amazing to see some fans in the stands traveling supporting us in this [Round of 32] game. It’s always great to see the black and yellow in the stands supporting us no matter where we go. We’re going to need them Saturday night against a great opponent to come out the Patriots point and cheer us on.

The Battery return for the first of two home matches on Sat., May 13, to play San Antonio FC and celebrate Military Appreciation Night at Patriots Point. This match will be followed by a second home game on Sat., May 20, against Monterey Bay FC for the Night of Champions. Tickets are available now via SeatGeek.com, the Battery’s exclusive digital ticketing provider.

Scoring Summary

MIA - 48′ Juan Sebastián Palma (CHS Own Goal)