LAST SEASON:
Regular season record: 7-6-15, 8th place in Eastern Conference
Record against active USL-1 teams: 7-5-13 (explanation)
RD's 2004 prediction: 13-9-6, 2nd place and through to league final
The Battery had the most shocking fall from grace in recent memory, following up their 2003 title with a season that saw a death-defying streak of 19 matches with just one win.  RD said they “lost a sick amount of talent,” but thought the influx of new players would fare a little better than they did.  2004’s highlight was making the semi-finals of the US Open Cup before being bounced – in overtime – to the Fire.

 

SEACREST, OUT:
D Mark Watson to Vancouver; All-League Second Team and CMNT regular
D Rick Titus to Toronto
M Steve Klein to Vancouver; 27 starts in 2004
F Paul Conway (5+3=13) to retirement
F Gabe Valencia (4+1=9)
GK Dusty Hudock (1.401 GAA, 4 SO) to Rochester
Watson

 

BACK IN BLACK:
D Ted Chronopoulos (4+3=11)
M Justin Evans All-League Second Team
M Kevin Jackson (1+3=5); 20 starts; two Teams of the Week
F Gregg Simmonds (5+4=14); two POW
Evans

 

FRESH MEAT:
Coach Michael Anhauser former player and assistant
D Alan Woods from Atlanta; All-League First Team, Player of the Week
D Andres Perez from Olimpia FC (Paraguay)
M Ugo Okoye from Highlanders FC (Nigeria)
F Thabiso "Boyzzz" Khumalo from Coastal Carolina
A bunch of kids from College of Charleston
Woods

 

LOCAL HISTORY:
- Rochester is 8-2-2 against Charleston in the regular season
- Rochester is 4-1-1 against Charleston in the playoffs
- Rochester was 1-1-2 against Charleston in 2004
- In 2004, Rochester scored 0.75 goals per game against Charleston, who allowed an average of nearly a goal-and-a-half per match over the entire season
- Rochester scored on itself during a 5-1 Charleston romp on August 13, 2004
- Charleston is one of four teams to beat Rochester twice in 2004
- John Wilson played for Charleston from 1999 to 2003

 

THE LOWDOWN:
A lot of people might say Charleston has nowhere to go but up in 2005, but RD isn’t buying too much into that theory.  This is a very young team (only four players weren’t born in the ‘80s, one-third of which are straight out of college) with a rookie coach and a pair of goalkeepers (Michael Behonick and Chris Doyle) who have little experience.  At best, they might be able to put a nice run together in August, but the Battery is not a playoff caliber team this year.  They will, however, shatter the world record for fans wearing Groucho glasses, and that's practically as good as making the playoffs.

 

RD's 2005 prediction: 8-5-15; 8th place and out of playoff contention

Back to the 2005 preview