Charleston Battery has already locked up a spot in the USL Championship postseason, but Saturday’s meeting with Rhode Island FC is still carrying real weight.
For Charleston, this one is less about settling scores and more about stacking points. The Battery want a result at Patriots Point on Sept. 26 at 7 p.m. that keeps them in position to host at least one playoff match - and maybe two - in the Lowcountry in November.
That’s the bigger picture. The sting of Rhode Island FC has lingered, sure, but the Battery aren’t framing this as a revenge game. Defender Douglas Martínez made that clear.
“It’s been tough for us the last couple of matches against them,” Martínez said. “I think if we see this match as a revenge, we’re not going to play as well as we could. We have to be more focused on ourselves and treat it like any other match.
“It’s an important match, but you can’t make it out to be more than it is. When we get to the knockout stage in the playoffs, then it’s about results and moving on. This is about us being the best versions of ourselves.”
That message fits the moment. Charleston is still chasing the Players’ Shield, with the Tampa Bay Rowdies sitting on top at 51 points. The Battery are second in the Eastern Conference with 43 points, but the race behind them is tight, with only five points separating second from fifth.
So while the postseason is secured, the job is far from done. A top-four finish would guarantee a home game in at least the opening round, and that remains a major target.
Coach Ben Pirmann is treating the matchup like a postseason dress rehearsal.
“They’ve had our number over the last couple of years because they are extremely talented,” Pirmann said. “This is a playoff game for us. They are trying to push as high up the standings as they can get, and we are trying to push up in the standings as well and hopefully earn a home match in the playoffs.
“We know if we’re not focused and don’t play the way we’re capable of playing, we can fall in the standings, and that will make it tougher on us during the playoffs.”
Rhode Island has been a problem for Charleston since entering the league in 2024. The Battery have beaten the club just once in four meetings and have gone three straight matches without a win against them. Charleston also lost to Rhode Island in the regular season earlier this year and again in last November’s playoff defeat, a result that ended the Battery’s season and hit especially hard with Charleston favored to reach the USL Championship Eastern Conference finals.
Saturday’s opponent will also arrive short-handed. Rhode Island FC will be without midfielders Jojea Kwizera and Dwayne Atkinson, both of whom scored in the first meeting and are away on international duty. JJ Williams, who scored the other two goals in Rhode Island’s 4-0 win in April, is no longer with the club after leaving for Scotland this past summer.
Charleston does have one major edge it can lean on: home field. The Battery lead the league in home wins with nine, home points with 29, home goals scored with 34 and home goal differential at plus-25.
There’s also a notable individual chase unfolding. After his assist against Monterey Bay, Jeremy Kelly moved into sole possession of the Championship Golden Playmaker lead with nine assists. His 10 assists across all competitions matched the career high he set in 2022, and he is now one away from tying the club’s single-season record of 11, held by Fidel Barajas in 2023 and Temoc Suarez in 2000.
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