Charleston Battery looking to end postseason losing streak to Rhode Island FC

Oct. 30—The last two seasons, the Charleston Battery's quest for another USL title has ended at the hands of Rhode Island FC.A year ago in the playoffs, Charleston and Rhode Island played to a scoreless tie through 90 minutes of regulation and 30 minutes of overtime before having to settle the matter with penalty kicks.Rhode Island outscored the Battery 5-3 in penalty kicks. Rhode Island advanced.The playoff defeat last November that ended the Battery's season was especially difficult to swallow considering Charleston — the No. 2 seed in the USL Championship Eastern Conference — was heavily favored to beat No. 7 Rhode Island and was considered a lock to make it to the USL Championship Eastern Conference finals.In 2024, Rhode Island beat the Battery, 2-1, in the Eastern Conference finals to send Charleston home for the season. The Battery has recorded just two victories in five matches against Rhode Island since the Northeast club joined the league in 2024.Charleston Battery coach Ben Pirmann is hoping that the third time will be the charm in the postseason against Rhode Island. Charleston will face Rhode Island FC in the USL Championship quarterfinals on Oct. 30 at Patriots Point beginning at 7 p.m."Anytime your season ends and you are not lifting the trophy you get a little ticked," Pirmann said. "Give Rhode Island credit, they've beaten us the last two years and now we've got another chance to get a result and advance in the playoffs."Hopefully, the third time will be the charm. It's a new season. These playoff matches are tight, there's not a lot of time and space on the pitch, so it'll come to a play here or there that will determine who wins."Charleston and Rhode Island split the 2026 regular-season series with each home team claiming a victory. Rhode Island notched a 4-0 victory over Charleston back in April, and the Battery returned the favor with a 2-0 win in September.Unlike last year's postseason meeting, Charleston's 2026 roster has been almost completely revamped with just four Battery players having appeared in the match that are currently with the club."We've been a bit unlucky against Rhode Island," said Charleston Battery captain Emilio Ycaza. "For the guys who were here last year and even the year before that, the feeling is we need to stay in the moment and not worry about what happened the last two years in the playoffs."The two teams are almost totally different from last year and even from the games we've played against them this season, so we can't worry about what has happened in the past."The matchup will be contrast in styles.During the regular season, Charleston amassed the most goals scored in the Eastern Conference (56), including four players in the top-10 for goals scored in the conference: Colton Swan, Maalique Foster, Miguel Berry and Ycaza.Meanwhile, the Rhode Island defense is rigid, with a league-leading 17 tackles per match during the regular season. Rhode Island's Swayne Atkinson and Amos Shapiro-Thompson were first and second, respectively, in the league in tackles per 90."This is why we put in those 10 months of hard work to get to this point," Berry said. "We know it's going to be the most intense game of the season to date and those are the kind of games you look back on at the end of your career."The Battery has spent extra time during training this week working on penalty kicks."It's not a fair way to decide a result, but it is what it is," Berry said. "I think if you embrace that and go up and do what you can, you are going to be fine. Your goal is to win the match in 90 minutes or 120 minutes if it goes into overtime, but at that point you just try to do your part in the penalty kicks."Reach Andrew Miller at 843-937-5599. Follow him on Twitter @APMILLER_PandC