CHARLESTON, S.C. – Louisville City FC did its best to hang around throughout Saturday’s match against the Charleston Battery, and the persistence paid off. Trailing 4-2 with a little more than 10 minutes to play, Louisville’s Brian Ownby tallied in the 79th minute and then found a Forrest Lasso own goal in the 80th minute to rally for a 4-4 draw at MUSC Health Stadium. Romario Williams scored twice in the opening half and the Charleston Battery held on to a 4-2 victory against Eastern Conference rival Louisville City FC on Saturday at MUSC Health Stadium. It was the first meeting since the 2016 USL Cup Playoffs, when Louisville earned a 1-0 win against the Battery in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Host Charleston gained a two-goal advantage through Williams in the opening 32 minutes, giving him 10 on the season to match last year’s total. It also puts him even with Reno 1868 FC striker and former Battery forward Dane Kelly for the league goal-scoring lead. Maikel Chang and second-half sub Ricky Garbanzo added goals for the Battery, who move to 7-2-3 (24 points) overall and 4-1-2 at home. In addition to the Ownby goal and own goal, Oscar Jimenez struck late in the first half and George Davis IV struck in the second half as Louisville moves to 4-1-4 (16 points) overall and 3-1-2 on the road.

Scoring:
11’ – CHS – Romario Williams (Kotaro Higashi)
32’ – CHS – Romario Williams
45’+1 – LOU – Oscar Jimenez
48’ – CHS – Maikel Chang (Kotaro Higashi)
60’ – LOU – George Davis IV (Ilija Ilic)
73’ – CHS – Ricky Garbanzo (O’Brian Woodbine)
79’ – LOU – Brian Ownby
82’ – LOU – Forrest Lasso (own goal)

• #CHSvLOU: Full match and Opta box score

Three Things That Mattered:

• 1. Louisville’s buildup play was strong, but it ended up being some fortunate bounces that helped assist in City FC’s come-from-behind draw. Oscar Jimenez’s long-distance strike took a heavy deflection off of Charleston’s Justin Portillo and found the left of the frame past Battery goalkeeper Odisnel Cooper in the first minute of first-half stoppage time. It was the only shot on frame in the opening 45 minutes, but City FC did keep Charleston’s defense busy with 10 total shots in the first half. George Davis IV contributed a 60th-minute goal that once again deflected off of a Battery defender to cut it to 3-2 and keep things interesting down the stretch. And of course there was the Forrest Lasso own goal after City FC crossed in from the left. Having said all of that, nothing can be taken away from the brilliance of Brian Ownby’s 79th-minute strike, which was struck with precision and was one of the biggest highlights in a heavy-scoring affair.

• 2. Romario Williams’ banner season filtered into Saturday’s match with a first-half brace. He tallied an early goal to put Charleston in the driver’s seat. Williams scored from a difficult angle in the 11th minute, with Kotaro Higashi providing the setup. Williams took a touch to his left to elude Louisville goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh, and then shot from the left of the box. City FC’s back line cleared the ball just after it crossed the goal line, and the officiating crew confirmed immediately that the clearance came too late. Williams then followed that up with a top-notch, long-distance strike in the 32nd minute just inside the right post to give him 10 on the season. It already matches his 10-goal campaign from a year ago.

• 3. City FC had not allowed more than two goals in a match this season, heading into Saturday night. Charleston put that trend to bed with Maikel Chang’s 48th-minute effort to give the Battery a 3-1 advantage. Chang had a strong individual effort and Louisville’s defense was flat-footed. Ranjitsingh got a glove on Chang’s shot, but didn’t do enough to parry it away from the frame as the Battery regained a two-goal lead. Defender O’Brian Woodbine later set up second-half sub Ricky Garbanzo for a fourth tally in the 73rd minute.

USLSoccer.com Man of the Match:
Romario Williams, Charleston Battery – Williams’ first-half brace put Charleston up early with a couple nice goals in the run of play to share the goal-scoring lead with Reno 1868 FC forward Dane Kelly.

Upcoming Games:
Charleston Battery vs. Richmond Kickers – June 10, 7 p.m. ET, MUSC Health Stadium
Louisville City FC vs. Charlotte Independence – June 7, 7:30 p.m. ET, Slugger Field