VANCOUVER, British Columbia — The Charleston Battery defeated the Vancouver Whitecaps, 2-1, on Friday night at Swangard Stadium in front of 5,288. The win lifts the Battery (11-3-8. 41 points) back into first place in the USL First Division. The Battery return to action tonight against the second place Portland Timbers.
Goalkeeper Dusty Hudock made five saves including one crucial stop in the 90th minute as the Battery earned its first ever win in Vancouver.
Charleston opened the scoring in the 24th minute after forward Randi Patterson used his pace to get behind Vancouver defender Marco Reda. Patterson’s shot from ten yards out was saved by goalkeeper Jay Nolly, but forward Darren Spicer was following up and drilled home the rebound.
Ten minutes later, midfielder Scott Buete intercepted a back pass and slipped the ball to Patterson who surged through the middle and finished neatly into the bottom left corner.
Vancouver made a game of it in the second half with a fantastic strike from Martin Nash that dipped into the top right corner of Hudock’s goal in the 81st minute.
