Atlanta United will face a familiar opponent in the next round of the U.S. Open Cup.
The Five Stripes will play the USL Championship’s Charleston Battery in the tournament’s Round of 16, set for May 21 at 7 p.m. ET at Patriots Point Soccer Stadium in Mt. Pleasant, S.C. The Battery secured passage to the final 16 after a 3-2 victory over USL League One outfit South Georgia Tormenta FC, fueled by MD Myers’ last-gasp winner in stoppage time of the second half of extra time to complete a hat trick.
This is the 4th time Atlanta will face the Battery in the Open Cup. In 2017, it won in Kennesaw 3-2 in a match delayed almost three hours by weather. A year later, it shut out Charleston 3-0 at Fifth Third Stadium behind goals from Andrew Carleton, Ezequiel Barco, and Romario Williams.
The two teams met again in 2019 in a match originally scheduled to be played in Charleston but later moved to Kennesaw as field conditions at MUSC Health Stadium were deemed unplayable. Atlanta got the better of Charleston once again, needing extra time to win a closed-door match 3-1 en route to winning the competition.
Charleston, the defending Eastern Conference champion, has been in remarkable form under second-year head coach Ben Pirmann as they are currently the lone unbeaten team in USL Championship play (7-0-3). Nick Markanich leads the Battery, and the league, with 12 goals, while Myers has 6. The Battery’s roster also includes Jackson Conway, who signed for the club in the offseason after years in Atlanta United’s setup.
The Battery had me sweating out that W. That was a hell of a match! Nice only having to drive an hour and a half to see Atlanta United take them on in a couple of weeks.