BY KEITH NAMM
Of The Post and Courier Staff
The Battery picked up momentum in its bid to catch Atlanta in the A-League's Southeast Division soccer race with a 3-0 victory over the El Paso Patriots before 3,553 at Blackbaud Stadium on Saturday night.
Charleston (5-1-1, 24 points) managed only one first-half goal but wore down El Paso enough after halftime to score twice more and earn the maximum five standings points. Still intact is the second-place Battery's unbeaten league record on Daniel Island, a 3-0-1 mark fashioned without conceding a single goal.
The Patriots (1-4-3, 8 points), reduced to 10 men by a red card in the late going, also lost 3-0 at Atlanta on Friday in a match that got away from them after two players were sent off.
Goals by Mark Watson, Raul Diaz Arce and Collin Phillips supported goalkeeper Dusty Hudock, who needed one save to get his fifth shutout of the season. Brazilian midfielder Luis Dagama, El Paso's top scorer, managed just one shot attempt as the Battery outshot the Pacific Division Patriots 13-7.
"I was pleased with the result, which gives us the bonus point, and I think El Paso did excellent considering they traveled a long way and a had a tough game last night," Battery coach Chris Ramsey said. "We defended well against them, and they're tricky to play against. But for our part, we know we can perform better than that as a team."
Watson, whose opening goal was a header in the 25th minute, said the plan was to get the ball forward and try to wear down El Paso within the first 20 minutes.
"We wanted to stick the knife in as early as possible," said Watson, a veteran Canadian international. "It didn't happen, and we were pretty sloppy. But we kept at them. Any time you come out a 3-0 winner you've got to be happy."
El Paso had its best moments early on. In the sixth minute, Patriots forward Omar Mora got a half-step in front of the Battery defense, scrambled up to the left top of the box and unleashed a liner that whistled just wide of the left post.
In the 14th minute, El Paso came close off a free kick from 25 yards out, awarded when Watson fouled Mora. Fabio Terra hit a curling shot off the set piece that Hudock pushed away from the near post before defender Kyle Swords closed in to prevent a rebound.
In the 25th minute, the Battery broke on top after winning a corner kick. Midfielder Ryan Trout took the left-side corner, sailing a looping ball to the far side of the box, where an onrushing Watson rose and nodded it home decisively out of reach for El Paso keeper Jesse Llamas.
"On corner kicks, we try to hit the same spaces every time. This one came a little long, and I was fortunate to get away from my man. I was just a couple of feet away, and it would have been disappointing if I hadn't scored from there," Watson said.
Diaz Arce, the match leader with three shots, had a good look in close in the 29th minute. Diaz Arce a pass down off his chest well inside the box, picked out a corner and shot it just wide from about 12 yards out.
The Battery outshot the Patriots 5-4 in the first half and had a more telling upper hand in corner kicks, 5-1.
Charleston made it 2-0 in the 52nd minute after a free kick from just beyond midfield in the El Paso half. The ball was played to Justin Evans and he sent it over to Diaz Arce, who had time to draw Jesse off his line and deftly chipped it over the keeper's head from 12 yards on the right side. The Salvadoran, Major League Soccer's No. 2 career goal-scorer, moved into second on the Battery points list with six on two goals and two assists.
The Battery made it 3-0 in the 88th minute on Phillips' goal.
The Battery again plays at home at 7:30 p.m. Friday against the Southeast rival Charlotte Eagles. The match will double as the first of a two-game, home-and-home U.S. Open Cup qualifying series between the teams.
