Boys in Gold crash in Charleston

Alan Winn photo from file. Tim Sullivan/For Club and Country

Nashville SC’s return to the road didn’t go well, with Charleston Battery taking a 3-1 victory in MUSC stadium. The hosts struck early, then capitalized on mistakes by Nashville in the second half to compound the lead before a late penalty kick by Daniel Ríos provided the smallest bit of consolation for Nashville.

There was a bit of shakeup in the starting lineup, with fan favorite Bradley Bourgeois seeing his first action of the season at right centerback while Ken Tribbett – who had played every minute of the regular season prior to this evening – watched from the bench. The Battery made an even bigger change, opting to go with a 3-4-3 formation rather than the 4-2-3-1 they’d used in their first five outings.

However, even a bit of a refresh for Nashville (and playing against a formation in which the opponent wasn’t well-drilled this year) wasn’t enough to give NSC the juice it needed to take a road result.

Jarad van Schaik opened the scoring with a left-footed volley from the upper corner of the 18-yard box on a pinpoint cross from O’Brian Woodbine. While the remainder of the first half would pass without additional scoring, the Battery would have to make a lineup change when centerback Leland Archer suffered an injury in the 18th minute.

The second half would see Charleston take control of the momentum – rather than trying to spring a counter-attack, as had been their first-half strategy – and Arthur Bosua scored on a through-ball from Kotaro Higashi before nodding home a van Schaik free kick that had hit the hands of Matt Pickens and then the crossbar.

Offensive substitutions for Nashville were only so effective – Alan Winn and Ropapa Mensah replaced Lebo Moloto and Tucker Hume, while Cameron Lancaster made his return from injury when he came on for Kharlton Belmar – until Winn earned an 89th-minute penalty kick that Ríos finished.

Nashville will have to regroup before continuing its roadtrip with a game at Pittsburgh Riverhounds next weekend.

Starting lineups

Match events

• 14′ CHS GOAL – 14 Jarad Van Schaik (left footed volley), assisted by 7 O’Brian Woodbine.
• 17′ CHS Substitution – On 3 Kyle Nelson, off 5 Leland Archer (injury)
• 38′ NSH Yellow card – 22 Bradley Bourgeois (foul)
• 45’+3 NSH Yellow card – 17 Michael Reed (foul)
• 45’+3 Half time
• 57′ CHS Yellow card – 7 O’Brian Woodbine (persistent infringement)
• 64′ CHS GOAL – 27 Arthur Bosua (right foot), assisted by 25 Kotaro Higashi
• 67′ NSH Substitutions:
  • On 19 Alan Winn, off 10 Lebo Moloto
  • On 3 Ropapa Mensah, off 12 Tucker Hume
• 68′ NSH Yellow card – 21 Darnell King (foul)
• 72′ CHS Substitution – On 13 Nicholas Rittmeyer, off 11 Zeiko Lewis
• 73′ CHS GOAL – 27 Arthur Bosua (headed rebound)
• 74′ NSH Substitution – On 9 Cameron Lancaster, off 11 Kharlton Belmar
• 77′ CHS Yellow card – 12 Vincenzo Candela (time-wasting)
• 83′ NSH Yellow card – 2 Justin Davis (foul)
• 88′ CHS Substitution – On 29 Nicque Daley, off 27 Arthur Bosua
• 89′ NSH GOAL – 14 Daniel Ríos (right-footed penalty, earned by 19 Alan Winn)
• 90’+3 Full time