Third time's the charm for the Battery

Charleston advances to U.S. Open Cup semifinals with win over FC Dallas

Mike Stone
AP

FC Dallas midfielder Juan Toja, left, and Charleston Battery midfielder Chris Williams collide on the header in the first half of a U.S. Open Cup soccer match in Frisco, Texas, Tuesday night.

FRISCO, Texas — The Battery finally got past FC Dallas on Tuesday night.

Way past .

After two close defeats to the MLS team at home, Charleston made the third time the charm with a convincing 3-1 U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals victory before an announced crowd of 5,911 at Pizza Hut Park.

Charleston hosts either Kansas City or Seattle in the semifinals Aug. 12.

It will be the Battery 's third semifinals appearance and first since 2004.

This may be bragging material for the USL, but for Charleston coach Michael Anhaeuser, beating an MLS team on the road is simply a continuation of a very good team having a very good year.

"For us, we feel very confident,'' Anhaeuser said. "We're scoring goals and we're defending well. When that happens, you have a chance against anyone and we proved that tonight."

Fittingly enough, Lazo Alavanja, who began his career here in Dallas when FC Dallas was called the Burn, put Charleston ahead in the 29th minute after stealing the ball from defender Blake Wagner.

"Anytime you get a goal early, it helps out,'' said Alavanja, who received a red card in the 80th minute after arguing with an

official. "We have confidence ... we stayed strong defensively and took care of our chances."

After a 53-minute lightning delay, Ian Fuller gave Charleston a 2-0 lead off a feed from Stephen Armstrong to cap a furious sequence that saw FC Dallas' best chance by Arturo Alvarez bounce off the right crossbar transition into the Battery goal.

"That was a nice sequence," Anhaeuser said. "That swang the game. If they would have scored, the rest of the game would have been a battle."

Randi Patterson concluded the scoring with an unassisted goal in the 91st minute after Charleston withstood a strong FC Dallas attack for 45 minutes.

Two minutes later, FC Dallas avoided the shutout on a Kenny Cooper header.

Charleston was without defender Marco Reda and midfielder Chris Corcoran, both of whom received red cards in last week's victory over Houston .

The defense didn't suffer that much. FC Dallas was able to set up opportunities, but could never finish. Forward Abe Thompson, who scored both FC Dallas goals in last week's victory over Miami FC, was quieted.

"The guys who stepped in contributed," Anhaesuer said. We have some players and depth, so we don't miss a beat."

Anhaesuer felt that the rest he gave Armstrong others in Saturday's USL game with Seattle paid off Tuesday. Armstrong played a full 90 minutes.

"It shows the depth we have," Anhaeuser said. "We were able to play people at a proper pace."