Alavanja goes the distance

Battery Soccer

Alan Hawes
The Post and Courier

The Battery's Ian Fuller (top) and Osvoldo Alonso congratulate Lazo Alavanja (left) after Alavanja scored.

When Charleston striker Lazo Alavanja looked up and saw no Seattle defenders near him, he figured: Why not?

Why not, indeed.

Alavanja recorded the only goal of the game on a screaming shot from 35 yards out and Dusty Hudock made three saves to get the shutout as the Battery defeated Seattle, 1-0, Saturday night before a crowd of 3,371 at Blackbaud Stadium.

Charleston, which won for the fourth straight time at home, improved to 8-3-3 (27 points) and remained in first place in the USL First Division. The Sounders, which won last year's USL First Division league title, dropped to 4-3-8 (20 points).

It wasn't the first time in Alavanja's career that he has taken a chance from distance. The former Indiana University All-American has a reputation around the league for trying to catch opposing keepers napping on the field.

In a game earlier this season against Montreal, Alavanja nearly scored from midfield with a shot that hit the crossbar.

"You have to do that every once in a while," Alavanja said, laughing. "You just want to make sure they're awake during the game."

Just 10 minutes into the match, Charleston defender Nelson Akwari sent what appeared to be a harmless pass to Alavanja in the middle of the field about 35 yards out from the goal.

"I had no idea he was going to take that shot," Akwari said. "I thought he was looking to serve the ball into the box or get it outside. I don't know why I'm surprised he shot because he makes shots like that all the time in practice."

When Alavanja got the ball, there wasn't a Sounders defender within five yards of him. Alavanja pivoted and blasted a shot into the upper right corner of the net past Seattle keeper Chris Eylander for the score.

"It felt good when I struck it, but I wasn't sure it was going to go in," Alavanja said. "When I looked up there was no one near me, so I figured, why not? I was wide open and no one stepped up on me, so I thought I'd give it a go and it went in."

Eylander came storming out of the net and screamed at his teammates for several seconds after the ball went in.

"We've had a couple of those shots go in against us, so it was nice to see us get one from distance," said Charleston coach Mike Anhaeuser. "Lazo is certainly a guy that is capable of scoring from distance. He's got a heavy shot and hopefully that gives him some confidence."

The Battery's defense was on top of its game, giving up just six shots on goal and no real quality scoring chances to the Sounders.

"I thought everyone played well defensively," Akwari said. "From the top with the forwards to the back four, we really kept our shape. Dusty didn't have to do very much tonight and that's when you know you're defense is playing well."

Both Charleston and Seattle beat Major League Soccer teams on Tuesday night in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Seattle beat Chivas USA, 2-0, while Charleston defeated Houston in a penalty-kick shootout.

Both teams looked a little tired after their second game in less than a week.

"I think both teams had some heavy legs out there," Anhaeu-ser said. "We had some guys that played 120 minutes on Tuesday against Houston and Seattle played and had to travel across the country."

The Battery had to settle for a 1-1 draw on a late goal from the Sounders in the Battery's home opener back in April.

The Battery appeared to score a goal in the 55th minute when Randi Patterson chipped the ball past Eylander for a score after a beautiful touch pass from Alavanja, but the former UNC Greensboro All-American was called for off sides on the play.

Charleston nearly scored again in the 64th minute when Darren Spicer got the ball near the midfield mark. The former Princeton star dribbled down the middle of the field and found Mike Richardson on the left side. Richardson took a strong dribble and blasted a shot that bounced off the cross bar to end the threat.

Headers

--With a game on Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. against FC Dallas in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open Cup, Anhaeuser elected to rest several of his normal starters. Midfielder Stephen Armstrong and defender Kevin Nylen were subs for the game, while defender John Wilson and midfielder Kevin Williams didn't dress for the game.

--Armstrong played the final 20 minutes of the match.

--Defender Marco Reda and midfielder Chris Corcoran will miss Tuesday's game with Dallas FC after receiving red cards in the Battery's penalty kick shootout win over Houston.

--The Battery's next home game is Saturday at 7:30 p.m. against the Puerto Rico Islanders.