Copyright Charleston Post and Courier
It’s all about the trophy now. Sure, all the old coaching clichés are still relevant — trusting the process, getting a little bit better each day during training, taking it one match at a time, playing for your teammates — but in the end, the next four weeks is about added another cup to the Charleston Battery’s trophy case. It isn’t even about revenge or what happened in last year’s USL Championship Eastern Conference finals against Rhode Island FC. For the Charleston Battery the next month will about hoisting the USL Championship trophy when the final whistle has sounded in the title match. The Battery will open the USL Championship playoffs against the defending Eastern Conference champions Rhode Island FC at 2 p.m. Nov. 2 at Ralph Lundy Field at Patriots Point. The Battery, which made it to the USL Championship finals two years ago, have captured four USL titles during the club’s 30-plus year history: 1996, 2003, 2010 and 2012. “It’s the new season and a brand-new excitement,” said Battery coach Ben Pirmann. “Honestly, nothing that we’ve done in the last 10 months really matters now. It matters in the fact that we had an incredible season, broke records, guys set records individually, and we set ourselves up for a really solid playoff run. “All the matters now is Sunday afternoon’s match. We have to have that win-or-go-home mentality because it’s about raising that trophy at the end of the playoffs. It’s what makes this time of year different from anything else.” For Charleston Battery midfielder Aaron Molloy the idea of a postseason or playoffs was a foreign concept to a player that had grown up following European soccer. The Irish-born veteran had grown up in a soccer culture that rewarded excellence during the regular season. The regular season was all that really mattered. There were knockout tournaments like England’s FA Cup or the UEFA Champions League or even the World Cup that Molloy followed as a boy. But until he came to play in North America, the idea of a postseason playoff was an unfamiliar experience. “I’ve been over here in the U.S. for almost 10 years,” said Molloy, who played collegiately at Penn State. “Initially it took me a couple of years to get used to it. Now, I really enjoy it, I love the postseason. Win or go home is very unique, but it’s something that I’ve grown fond of. It’s a great time of year.” The two teams met in last year’s Eastern Conference finals with Rhode Island coming away with a 2-1 victory at Patriots Point. Charleston and Rhode Island split the regular season series with both clubs winning their home matches. “I don’t know about using revenge as motivation, I mean, I think everyone is motivated to win at this time of year,” Pirmann said. “We want to win trophies. We want to win every match we play, and when we don’t, you feel like a failure. Look, we have a bad taste in our mouths from last year, but we’ve already played them twice since then. “For us, we know how good Rhode Island is. They are one of the best clubs in the league, but if you want to win trophies, you have to beat the best, and certainly they were the best team in the Eastern Conference last year.” One of the most crucial matchups will be the Battery’s potent offensive attack against one of the league’s top defensive units. Charleston was the league’s highest-scoring team in the regular season, led by Cal Jennings (17 goals/6 assists) and MD Myers (15 goals/4 assists). Rhode Island keeper Koke Vegas, meanwhile, had the second-most shutouts (11) and third-best save percentage (72.1 percent).
