Charleston Battery hopes home-field advantage will propel club to another championship

Nov. 7—There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home.

The Charleston Battery can definitely relate.

The USL Championship playoffs will most likely run through the Lowcountry for the next month.

With the top-seeded Tampa Bay Rowdies losing to Miami FC last week, the No. 2 seed Charleston Battery will have home-field advantage as long as they are alive in the postseason.

That would also include a championship match later this month.

The Battery takes on Hartford Athletic in the USL Championship Eastern Conference semifinals on Nov. 7 beginning at 7:30 p.m. at Patriots Point.

Charleston defeated Rhode Island, 1-1 and 5-4 on penalty kicks, in the quarterfinals last weekend.

This will be the 10th home playoff match that the Battery has hosted in the last four seasons when head coach Ben Pirmann took over the club for the 2023 season.

During Pirmann’s tenure, the Battery have rarely lost at Patriots Point, going 45-9-10 during that span with a plus-88 goal differential.

“It’s been a pretty remarkable run in the playoffs since Ben was hired,” said Battery managing partner Rob Salvatore. “When we interviewed Ben in 2022, he asked me what I wanted from the club.

“I wanted us to great custodians of the club because it’s a public asset. I wanted us to be fierce at home, and we’ve been in incredible at home with Ben.

“I wanted us to be play meaningful games in the last month of the season. If we get into the tournament, the playoffs, then I knew we’d just have to take our chances because the tournament is coin flip. Ben has embraced that.”

Pirmann has positioned the Battery close to winning the club’s fifth championship — playing for the title in his first season in 2023 — but has yet to capture the ultimate prize.

“Look, if we can advance and get past a very tough Hartford team, then this will be our fourth final in four years, three conference finals and the USL Cup,” Pirmann said. “All four of them have been in this stadium, so this is a big moment for this club. The experience we’ve had the last four seasons combined with our home supporters — hopefully we get us past the finish line.

“Our crowd means everything to us. We talk about the emotions, the ups and downs during a game, and it’s really the fans who are so massive for us. They give us that little extra energy we need to get the job done.”

This will be the third time the Battery and Hartford have faced each other this season. The Battery rallied to tie Hartford 1-1 in October but lost 2-1 in September in the first matchup of the season.

“We’ve had two really tough matches against Hartford — they are a physical team, much like Rhode Island,” Pirmann said. “They are a very talented team, and they don’t mind not having the ball, so the match will come down to two or three plays.”

One Charleston Battery player with championship DNA is defender Sean Suber, who won a title last season with the Pittsburgh Riverhounds.

“Without the crowd, we don’t get the job done against Rhode Island,” Suber said. “I’ve been telling guys that everyone matters. Even if you are not in starting 11, everybody matters. What you do in training, the energy you bring the locker room really matters. We need everyone together to go all the way and win a championship.”

Reach Andrew Miller at 843-937-5599. Follow him on X @APMILLER_PandC