Wednesday, March 24, 2004 - Charleston Battery Press Release - www.CharlestonBattery.com

CHARLESTON, SC - The Charleston Battery lost to Major League Soccer's Columbus Crew tonight at Blackbaud Stadium by a score of 3-1 in front of 1,620. Charleston took an early lead through a Paul Conway strike but could not hang on as the Crew powered back with three unanswered goals.

The match was the second of the 2004 Carolina Challenge Cup. The tournament wraps up Saturday at Blackbaud with a doubleheader featuring the Battery vs the Wilmington Hammerheads (6 PM) and DC United vs the Columbus Crew (8:15 PM).

Charleston started the brighter of the two teams and took the lead early with a goal in the 12th minute. Midfielder Chris Goos sent a free-kick in from the right-flank. Defender Michael Green headed the ball down to Paul Conway who controlled it before slotting it past Crew keeper John Busch into the goal.

Five minutes later the score was tied as Columbus equalized. The Crew broke down the near-side and defender, Stephen Herdsman whipped in a cross from wide on the right. Midfielder Ross Paule met the cross and from a difficult angle fired past Dusty Hudock at the Battery near-post.

After the break the game opened up and both sides had chances that just missed. Ross Paule was denied by Hudock in the 55th minute, while at the other end Conway saw a fierce volley rebound off the woodwork.

Columbus scored the go-ahead goal in the 65th minute. Kyle Martino sent a looping ball to the back of the 6-yard box where an onrushing Frankie Heyduk hit it first-time past Hudock into the goal.

Defender Chad Marshall rounded out the scoring minutes later directing a header into the net from a Simon Elliot corner.

In the other game of the tournament played tonight in Wilmington, NC, DC United defeated the Wilmington Hammerheads 1-0 on a Jaime Moreno PK.

Referee: Ricardo Salazar

Assistant Referees: Robert Fereday, Nathan Clement

Attendance: 1,620

Weather: Warm

Blackbaud Player of the Game: Greg Simmonds

Scoring Summary:

Charleston Battery - Conway (Green) 12

Columbus - Paule (Herdsman) 17

Columbus - Heyduk (Martino) 65

Columbus - Marshall (Elliot) 69

Charleston Battery: Dusty Hudock, Henrik Jensen (Ivan McKinley 14), Mark Watson, Michael Green, Nick Downing, Chris Goos (Aleksey Korol 74), Steve Klein, Kevin Jackson, Ted Chronopoulos (Jason Kutney 66), Paul Conway (Chris Bagley 78), Greg Simmonds

Players Not Used - Michael Behonick, Jason Getz, Andrew Rosenband, Bryan Hoy

SHOTS: 9 (Simmonds 6); SAVES: 3 (Hudock 3); FOULS: 18 (Simmonds 3); CORNER KICKS: 2; OFFSIDES: 4; PENALTY KICKS: (NONE); CAUTIONS: Downing 27; EJECTIONS: (NONE)

Columbus: John Busch, Stephen Herdsman, Chad Marshall, Robin Fraser, Eric Denton (Chris Wingert 73), Ross Paule, Simon Elliot, Kyle Martino (Nelson Akwari 89), Frankie Heyduk, David Testo (Jamal Sutton 89), Devin Barclay (Duncan Oughton 86)

Players Not Used - Michael Ueltschey, Michael Ritch, Jake Traeger

SHOTS: 11 (Testo 4); SAVES: 2 (Busch 2); FOULS: 17 (Martino 5); CORNER

KICKS: 3; OFFSIDES: 4; PENALTY KICKS: (NONE); CAUTIONS: Martino 50;

EJECTIONS: (NONE)

DC United News Release - www.dcunited.com

WILMINGTON, NC -- Jaime Moreno converted a penalty kick and Nick Rimando kept a clean sheet in his first action since season-ending ACL surgery last season and D.C. United cruised to a 1-0 win over the Wilmington Hammerheads.

Played before 3,621 at Legion Field, United was never tested and held play throughout the evening. Despite the win, the Black-and-Red (+2) trail the Columbus Crew (+4), 3-1 winners tonight at the Charleston Battery, in goal differential and must defeat their MLS counterparts this weekend to win the Inaugural Carolina Challenge Cup. United will return to Charleston, SC for the final game of the tournament on Saturday, March 27th at 8:15 p.m.

Returning to the line-up after missing Saturday's match, Earnie Stewart was active from the opening whistle with two early shots. Stewart's United teammates opened with steady, controlled possession. Ten minutes in, the Black-and-Red nearly scored when Bobby Convey's well-paced ball found Alecko Eskandarian just outside the penalty area. His left-footed bid was tapped just wide of frame. A minute later, Stewart streaked through the goal box tapping Dema Kovalenko's cross just wide right.

The furious attack continued as Bobby Convey beat Brady Bryant in the penalty area before being tripped to the ground. Moreno converted the resulting spot kick for a 1-0 lead. United continued to press forward, nearly scoring on quality chances by Stewart, Ben Olsen and Eskandarian. Eskandarian's 36th minute header beat Kevin Huyelbroeck, but was cleared off of the line by a quick-reacting defender keeping the score at 1-0 going into the half.

United exited the locker room and immediately began knocking the ball around the park and attacking as they did in the previous 45 minutes. At the hour mark, David Stokes gained the end line before sending a ball through the goal mouth and just beyond the reach of Ronald Cerritos. Trialist Sergei Skachenko also sent a dangerous ball into the box, but neither Cerritos nor Kovalenko could turn the cross on goal.

The defending PSL champions pushed for a late equalizer, going forward in greater numbers as the game wore on, but never threatened Rimando's goal. United carried play until the final whistle.

Wilmington Hammerheads (0-2-0) vs. D.C. United (2-0-0)
March 24, 2004 -- Legion Stadium

Goals by Period  1  2  Tot 
D.C. United  1 0 1
Wilmington Hammerheads 0 0 0

Scoring Summary:
DC - Jaime Moreno (penalty kick) 13

Wilmington Hamerheads - Kevin Huyelbroeck; Paul Chase, Tim Karalexis (Iovo 22), Brady Bryant, Johnnie Keen (Garrison Rudisill 88); Buddy Forward, Neil McNab (Graham Alber 54), George Corrie (Dan Capecci 87), Joe McNab (Greinery Cory 79); Cecil Lewis, Tim Imafidon (Ben Hill 46).

Substitutes Not Used: Matt Bunkaloo, Marc Hubbard, Andrew Ravenello, Mark Draycott, Kevin Nylen, Adam Smith, Junior Zarate, Ryan Miller, Chris Karagianis, Billy Platz, Nick Hansell, Papus Kieta.

TOTAL SHOTS: 4; FOULS: 18; OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 2; SAVES: 5.

D.C. United - Nick Rimando; Bryan Namoff, Mike Petke, Brandon Prideaux; Earnie Stewart (Junuz Coralic 71), Ben Olsen (Kevin Ara 46), Brian Carroll (David Stokes 46), Dema Kovalenko, Bobby Convey (Freddy Adu 71); Jaime Moreno (Ronald Cerritos 46), Alecko Eskandarian (Sergei Skachenko 46).

Substitutes Not Used: Doug Warren, Ryan Nelsen, Joshua Gros, Troy Perkins.

TOTAL SHOTS: 13; FOULS: 16; OFFSIDES: 2; CORNER KICKS: 9; SAVES: 1.

Misconduct Summary:
DC - Ronald Cerritos (caution) 65
DC - David Stokes (caution) 86

Referee: Abbey Okulaja
Referee's Assistants: Tom Supple; Steve Taylor
4th Official: Eric Kajewski
Attendance: 3,621
Time of Game: 1:48
Weather: Clear-and-55 degrees