ORLANDO, Fla. (September 22, 2017) - Orlando City B (8-8-12, 36 points) will host the Charleston Battery (13-7-8, 47 points) on Saturday, Sept. 23 at 7:30 p.m. ET at Orlando City Stadium. The match will follow the Orlando Pride match, which begins at 3:30 p.m.
The match will be streamed at www.OrlandoCitySC.com/LIVE.
“[Charleston is] probably the most athletic team in the league. They’ve got a lot of size, they’re very dangerous off set-pieces, and they’re a counter-attacking team. Lots of pace in forward areas. It’s important that we defend properly,” OCB head coach Anthony Pulis said. “But we’ve come up against them a number of times over the years so we kind of have a good idea of what they’re going to be about and they’re probably the same about us.”
This is the second meeting of the season between these teams. On July 29, Earl Edwards, Jr. made one save to earn OCB’s sixth clean sheet of the season in the midst of its Club record 12-game unbeaten streak.
OCB is coming off a 2-0 road loss to Saint Louis FC. Ryan Howe scored the eventual game-winner on an exceptional strike from distance in the 10th minute. Christian Volesky added insurance from the penalty spot in the 62nd.
Hadji Barry leads the Lions with eight goals in 14 appearances. Pierre Da Silva leads the team with seven assists in 22 appearances. Jake Fenlason has started the last four matches in goal since Edwards, who remains tied for second in the USL with nine shutouts, was called to the First Team on Aug. 25.
Charleston enters the match on a two-game winning streak, most recently defeating the Charlotte Independence 3-0 on Sept. 20. Heviel Cordovés scored in the 13th and 80th minutes, and Ricky Garbanzo scored in the 73rd, just six minutes after coming on. Odisnel Cooper had to make just one save.
Romario Williams leads Charleston with 15 goals in 19 appearances, but will be unavailable as he serves the second of a three-game suspension following a red card against Richmond on Sept. 16. Maikel Chang leads the team with seven assists and Justin Portillo close behind with six.
OCB enters the match in eighth in the Eastern Conference, two points behind seventh-place New York and one point ahead of Bethlehem and Pittsburgh in ninth and 10th, respectively. Charleston is in third, one point behind second-place Charlotte.
OCB will travel to City Stadium to take on the Richmond Kickers on Sunday, Oct. 1, at 5 p.m. ET. The Lions return to Orlando City Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 7, to host New York Red Bulls II before hosting the I-4 Derby rival Tampa Bay Rowdies on Thursday, Oct. 12, in the regular season finale.
