Stephen Armstrong

2007 Quarterfinals: FC Dallas need overtime to beat Charleston … again

August 7, 2007 by

Arturo Alvarez’s strike in the 95th minute broke a 1-1 tie and helped FC Dallas advance to the Semifinals of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup with a 2-1 victory over the Charleston Battery. It was the second year in a row that Charleston has lost to Dallas in the Open Cup after being tied following regulation (Dallas won on penalty kicks in the Fourth Round last year).

FC Dallas came out with a close-to-full-strength first 11, but Stephen Armstrong would open the scoring in the 17th minute from outside the penalty area. Clarence Goodson’s header in the 22nd minute leveled the score and the remainder of the half would be tightly-fought. The second half saw little in the way of eventful action and the game was destined to head to extra time.

The 1997 US Open Cup champions are making their sixth appearance in the Semifinals. Their last trip to the final four was in 2005 when they defeated the Chicago Fire 1-0, on their way to losing in the championship game to the Los Angeles Galaxy by the same scoreline.

FC Dallas will move on to play the Seattle Sounders at Qwest Field on September 4.

2007 Third Round: Battery upset Dynamo on PK rebound in extra time

July 10, 2007 by

In a hard-fought match at Blackbaud Stadium, the Charleston Battery eliminated the Houston Dynamo 1-0 with a goal in extra time by Stephen Armstrong.

Houston goalkeeper Zach Wells, who bailed out the Dynamo on several occasions, saved the penalty kick by Armstrong in the 106th minute, but Armstrong crashed the net and buried the rebound. It was the fourth win by the Battery over an MLS team in their franchise history (1999 – DC United, 2001 – Metrostars, 2004 – Metrostars).

With the win, the Battery will host FC Dallas for the second year in a row, this time in the Quarterfinals. The game will be a rematch of the thrilling Fourth Round game from last season where Kenny Cooper scored the equalizer, his third goal of the game, in the final minute of extra time to send the 3-3 game into penalties. Dallas would prevail in the shootout, 5-3.

2007 First Round: Vercollone, Battery too much for Central Florida Kraze

June 12, 2007 by

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’