BY KEITH NAMM
of The Post and Courier staff
The first time the Battery and the Atlanta Silverbacks met this season, the teams currently ranked first and third in A-League scoring combined for a mere one goal.
It is anyone's guess exactly what style of soccer match awaits at 7:30 tonight at Blackbaud Stadium in the second of three meetings between the Central Conference rivals.
"What we're looking for is a win, whether it's 5-4 or 1-0, we'll take it," said Battery coach Alan Dicks, whose second-place team has won four straight.
"One can't predict the number of goals we'll score, but we certainly build our game around creating chances and taking them."
Third-place Atlanta (11-8-1, 50 points through Thursday), idle last week following a 7-0 home trouncing of Cincinnati on Aug. 4, played at home Friday night against Indiana before traveling to Daniel Island.
Charleston (13-6-1, 59 points), whose 43 goals are four better than Atlanta, has not played since last Friday night's 2-1 home overtime victory over Toronto.
That win, while a lackluster performance, was worth four points and kept Charleston within striking distance of the Central-leading Richmond Kickers, six points ahead entering their two-match weekend.
The eight days between games were not exactly restful for the Battery, which is a banged-up group right now. Two starters up front, forward Velko Iotov (respiratory ailment) and midfielder Jon Akin (shin), are sidelined. Besides that, former Major League Soccer defender John Wilson, one of two Battery players to log every minute this season, will have to sit out one game with an accumulation of yellow-card points.
"This is our worst weekend in that regard," said Dicks, who also went into Friday's training with question marks about a list of dinged-up players including league scoring-leader Paul Conway and midfielder Matt Farris. "Hopefully, this will be the only weekend we have like this."
Conway has scored in the last two matches, and he and strike partner Mac Cozier (four goals) have combined for seven goals during Charleston's win streak.
Charleston's win at Atlanta on June 23 came courtesy of Cozier's 85th-minute score. The Battery outshot the Silverbacks 14-8 at DeKalb Memorial Stadium and Dusty Hudock's three saves helped preserve the shutout, one of his six on the season.
The victory was Charleston's fifth straight over Atlanta, dating to the 1999 season.
First-year coach John Dugan's Silverbacks are led in scoring by Republic of Congo striker Ignace Moleka, who has 25 points on 10 goals and five assists. Midfielder Sean Callahan has a team-leading seven assists among his 19 points, and former Battery forward Ryan Walker is third in points with 17 (7 G, 3 A) after lighting up Cincinnati for two goals and an assist.
