CHARLESTON, S.C. Former UNC Greensboro All-American men's soccer player Randi Patterson scored twice as the USL's Charleston Battery knocked off MLS member Chivas USA, 3-1, in Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup play Tuesday night at Blackbaud Stadium.
Randi Patterson, pictured here in a 2006 game against Belmont, scored twice for the Charleston Battery in a 3-1 win over MLS's Chivas USA on Tuesday night during Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Play. |
With the win, the Battery moved to the quarterfinal round where they will face either the Austin Aztex of the USL or the MLS's Houston Dynamo. The Battery were the Cinderella story of last year's Open Cup, advancing to the finals before falling to D.C. United. Tuesday's win was the seventh-ever for the Battery against an MLS opponent.
Patterson opened the scoring quickly Tuesday night when he intercepted a misplayed clear and banged it home past Chivas USA keeper Lance Parker.
With the score tied 1-1 late in the opening half, Patterson struck again. The Hackensack, N.J., native played a ball to Darren Spicer, whose return pass got Patterson behind the Chivas USA defense. Again, Patterson had a 1-on-1 with Parker and blew it by him to give the Battery a 2-1 advantage.
The score stayed that way until the closing seconds when Tsuyoshi Yoshitake scored in stoppage time to put the game away.
In 18 matches this season, Patterson has six goals for 12 points, three of those goals coming in the last two matches. He also had a goal against the Puerto Rico Islanders last week in a match-up against his former Spartan teammate and fellow All-American Scott Jones.
Patterson was a two-time All-American and earned 2004 and 2005 Southern Conference Player of the Year honors while at UNCG. He finished fifth on the UNCG all-time scoring list with 141 points and fifth on the school's career goal scoring list with 61. A candidate for the Hermann Trophy each of his last two seasons, including a semifinalist in 2005, Patterson was a three-time first-team All-SoCon honoree. He was the team's top goal scorer all four seasons. As a senior, he had 27 points on 13 goals and one assist. Following his senior season, he was drafted by Red Bull New York in MLS.
Last year, the Battery topped the Dynamo in penalty kicks in the Round of 16 and then topped FC Dallas, 3-1, in the quarterfinal round.
Houston and Austin play on Wednesday night. The winner will face the Battery at Blackbaud Stadium on July 7. The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is the U.S. Soccer Federation's national championship, and is an annual competition open to all amateur and professional soccer teams affiliated with U.S. Soccer. It is the oldest annual team tournament in U.S. sports history and among the oldest soccer tournaments of its type in the world. In 1999, the competition was renamed to honor long-time soccer pioneer Lamar Hunt.
At stake in the tournament is $180,000 in prize money broken down as follows: $100,000 to the champion, $50,000 to the runner up and $10,000 to the team that advances deepest into the tournament from each of the Division II, Division III and amateur levels. The winner of the U.S. Open Cup also receives an automatic berth into the CONCACAF Champions League.
- UNCG -
