Charleston’s next match will be home vs. Monterey Bay FC on Sat., Sept. 19, as the club celebrates Hispanic Heritage Night at Patriots Point.

Battery Media

The Charleston Battery split the points with Birmingham Legion FC in a 2-2 draw in Week 28 of the USL Championship regular season at Dunnavant Valley Fields on Saturday. All four goals occurred in the first half, with both of Charleston’s tallies scored by Migue Berry, his third brace of the year. The Battery were forced to settle for a draw after applying ample pressure in the second half but could not come away with a third goal. 

Play kicked off at Dunnavant Valley Fields instead of Birmingham’s usual home of Protective Stadium due to scheduling conflicts at Protective Stadium. 

Birmingham managed to open the scoring in the 11th minute via Sebastian Tregarthen to take a 1-0 lead.

Charleston did not back down, however, and Miguel Berry issued an immediate response by leveling the score, 1-1, in the 14th minute. The Battery’s pressure forced Legion FC to play the ball out of the back, and Tyler Pasher’s ball intended for Bryce Washington inside the box went wide. Berry pounced on the error, muscled Washington off the ball and then fired in the equalizer at the near post. 

Berry’s goal was his eighth of 2026 across all competitions. 

The Battery claimed the lead in the 21st minute when Berry again delivered, this time with a strike from outside the box to go ahead 2-1. Jeremy Kelly carried the ball forward from midfield and evaded the defense before threading the needle to Berry. From there, Berry lined up his strike to the top corner.

Berry’s brace was his third of the year, bringing his goal total to nine across all competitions (seven in league play). 

Kelly’s assist was his ninth overall of the year, and his eighth in the regular season, placing him back into a tie for the lead in the Championship Golden Playmaker race. 

Birmingham equalized in the 39th minute via Romario Williams, leveling the score at 2-2.

Colton Swan nearly reclaimed the lead for the Battery moments later with a promising look on goal that instead hit the woodwork. Berry’s immediate follow-up shot forced a save from goalkeeper Jassem Koleilat.

The game went into the break tied at 2-2. Charleston held just over 70% possession in the first half. 

Play resumed in the second half with all to play for with the level scoreline. 

Berry nearly notched his hat trick in the 67th minute following his link-up with Maalique Foster in the final third, but Berry was unable to make solid contact on Foster’s cross into the six-yard box for a shot on target. 

A notable moment occurred in the 75th minute when Camilo Sánchez entered the game off the bench to officially make his Battery debut. 

The Battery applied heavy pressure to the Birmingham defense in the waning moments, but Chris Allan’s saved shot in the 84th minute and Wilmer Cabrera’s blocked attempt in the 88th minute were the only shots recorded in the final quarter-hour.

Charleston and Birmingham shared the points in the 2-2 draw, which extended the Battery’s current unbeaten run against Legion FC to nine consecutive games. 

Saturday’s draw moves the Battery’s record to 12W-8L-4D (40pts), placing them second in the Eastern Conference, as of writing. 

Miguel Berry set a new career single-season high for goals scored, with his current nine tallies in 2026 surpassing his previous best of eight in 2021 (Columbus Crew). 

With nine assists so far across all competitions this year, Jeremy Kelly is one assist away from matching his career single-season best (10, in 2022). His eight in league play place him in a tie for the lead in the Championship Golden Playmaker race, as of writing.

Head Coach Ben Pirmann and forward Miguel Berry addressed the media after the match, with key quotes to follow.

Coach Pirmann on his impression of the result…

I think if you step back and look at it, 80 to 85% of the game played out as we anticipated with their movements, they have a strong front four with special players who have been making plays for years in this league. So, we knew how the game would play out.

I was frustrated with Romario Williams’ chance in the first few minutes, and then the goal we conceded to go down 1-0 because that was the exact pattern and sequence that we trained, and we just didn’t execute. But, our response was incredible. Great counter-press goal by Miguel, and then an incredible build-up goal on the second one with an excellent finish. We could have made it 3-1 a couple of times, but coulda, woulda, shoulda. We didn’t, and then we’re extremely soft on their second goal, and that’s disappointing. You can’t be soft anywhere, but you can’t go on the road playing a very talented team and allow that.

In the second half, we didn’t win the game, but we got on top of them. We had all the chances and all the territory. We had all the looks at goal. We had all the attacking half sequences. For me, the frustration may be a little bit not finishing one or two, but that’s just football. But I thought at times, we try to do too much. There’s probably a balance where it’s two points dropped, but also you have to give Birmingham credit because of how they fought.

The attitude and the effort were strong. We have to improve some training habits with a couple of players. We have to improve some execution of the game plan, and then we have to keep things simple and play within ourselves, and make sure we’re doing what’s best to win games, and not doing what’s best for the individual.

At the end of the day, the performance was pretty good, but we’re at the stage where pretty good’s not going to cut it at the end of the season and into the playoffs.

Charleston’s next match will be home vs. Monterey Bay FC on Sat., Sept. 19, as the club celebrates Hispanic Heritage Night at Patriots Point. Tickets for the game are on sale now via SeatGeek.com, the club’s exclusive digital ticketing provider.

To keep up on the Charleston Battery and their schedule visit their website at https://www.charlestonbattery.com/schedule/