The Charleston Battery, with the aid of two goals from Luke Vercollone, made easy work of the Central Florida Kraze, defeating the PDL side 3-0 at Blackbaud Stadium.
The Battery jumped on the board early, when Stephen Armstrong got a long range shot past Kraze goalkeeper Alessandro Barcherrini in the sixth minute of play. As Barcherrini bent over to pick up the ball, it took a slight deflection, allowing it to slip through his hand and across the goal line.
Charleston continued to put pressure on the Kraze defense, and after several near misses, Vercollone slotted home a Mike Richardson cross in the 12th minute to put Charleston up 2-0. Central Florida would not give up easy, as Keith Savage tested Charleston goalkeeper Keith Wiggans twice, once with a hard shot from thirty yards out, and again by forcing Wiggans to dive to push the ball over the touch line for a corner kick. In the 42nd minute, Vercollone struck again, finding himself unmarked on the left side of the penalty area after receiving a cross from Gordon Chin, which he chested down and slotted into the net. Vercollone nearly completed the hat trick early in the second half, but Barcherrini made a spectacular save to deny him.
The Kraze were reduced to 10 men in the 76th minute, when substitute Daniel Fadida was shown a straight red card for a two-footed foul on Ian Bennett. The Battery then played gracious hosts and put the game on cruise control, even playing out the clock when the Kraze were reduced to nine men in the 89th minute, when a Kraze player was injured after the team used their four substitutes.
Charleston will host the PDL’s El Paso Patriots in the Second Round on June 26.
Scoring
(CHR) Stephen Armstrong 5’
(CHR) Luke Vercollone 12’
(CHR) Luke Vercollone 42’