Charleston Battery (2W-2L-4D) won their first game of the season Friday night, traveling to face Harrisburg City Islanders (1W-3L-1D), and running away with a 4-0 victory. Apparently, Charleston decided that they liked the feel of victory, because they subsequently went out on Sunday and laid down a convincing 2-0 win over Dayton Dutch Lions (2W-3L-1D).
Prior to being recalled by Whitecaps FC on Tuesday, Omar Salgado led Battery’s offensive weekend with two beautiful goals, adding a helper for good measure. Salgado opened the scoring against Harrison City with a rising rocket over the Harrisburg City ‘keeper, then quickly facilitated some insurance by heading a ball to Zach Prince, who finished the play off for a 2-0 lead. Salgado’s weekend highlight reel wasn’t finished there, as he ended up sealing the victory against Dayton, connecting on a beautiful header with under ten minutes reaming. The 6-foot-4 striker played an impressive 78 minutes on Friday and complemented it with an opportunistic 24 minutes on Sunday.
HIGHLIGHT: SALGADO SCORES HIS SECOND GOAL OF THE WEEKEND
Salgado’s exploits didn’t go unnoticed by Battery assistant coach Troy Lesesne, who was not only impressed with the Texan’s stat line, but also his ability to “hold the ball well and allow numbers to join him in the attack.” Salgado’s performance was also noticed by USL PRO, as he was named to the Team of the Week for his fantastic weekend.
As good as Salgado was, he certainly wasn’t the only Whitecaps FC loanee to do some damage on the weekend. Striker Mamadou Diouf and midfielder Andre Lewis decided to help each other out on Friday. First, Diouf found Lewis streaking down the left flank, who made no mistake in scoring the 3-0 goal. Then, the two reversed roles as Lewis picked up an assist on Diouf’s second goal of the season and the 4-0 marker. In the game against Dayton solid and helped contribute to a tough road win. Diouf played 63 minutes and recorded one shot, while Lewis played a significant 27 minutes against Dutch Lions.
Midfielder Aminu Abdullah was a steadying presence in both games, putting in 15 minutes against Harrison City, while playing for the full 90 minutes against Dayton. He almost scored in the 77th minute against Dayton, but his shot was tipped just over the net. Adam Mena “showed some good quality in the attack by being able to beat defenders one-on-one on multiple occasions through both games”, according to Lesesne, and was unfortunate to not have at least a goal and an assist over the weekend.
Jackson Farmer and Marlon Ramirez didn’t play in either match as they were called up by Whitecaps FC over the weekend. Both Salgado and Farmer will be eligible for Wednesday's Amway Canadian Championship match against Toronto FC, while Farmer and Ramirez will also be eligible to play for Whitecaps FC U-23 in USL PDL action.
Charleston next returns home to face Wilmington Hammerheads on Saturday, May 10. Kick-off is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. PT and can be streamed on charlestonbattery.com.
