King looking to fill Patterson's scoring void

With leading goal scorer out, Battery looks for a spark from its bench

The Post and Courier

Aaron King

Charleston Battery striker Aaron King will have to do something tonight against Minnesota that he's normally not accustomed to doing — pace himself.

With Randi Patterson, the Battery's top scorer, out of the lineup while serving a suspension, the job of scoring goals will fall to King, who has spent most of the season coming off the bench.

The former N.C. State star has thrived coming off the bench this season, using his blazing speed and quickness to score three goals in just 442 minutes of action. But instead of logging his normal 20-to-35 minutes, King could be on the field for the full 90 minutes against the Thunder.

"I don't think it's going to change my game all that much," King said. "I've still got to play to my strengths and do the things that will help us win. I'm going to have to be smarter with my runs and pick my moments. I just can't run after every ball out there. Going 90 minutes is different than playing for half an hour, but I feel like I'm pretty fit right now. It's a different role, but I'm really looking forward to it."

Patterson will miss tonight's game with the Thunder at Blackbaud Stadium after getting suspended for one game by the USL First Division. Patterson, who is second in the league in goals (6) and points (12), was suspended after receiving a red card in the Battery's 1-0 loss to the Montreal Impact last Friday night.

Patterson and Montreal defender Adam Braz were both issued red cards after an altercation in the 88th minute. Patterson and Braz became entangle during a free kick just inside the Battery's 18-yard box and wrestled briefly before being separated by teammates. Braz also received a one-game suspension by the league.

"Not having Randi in the lineup is going to have an impact because it means that someone else is going to have to step up and get the job done," said Charleston Battery coach Mike Anhaeuser. "I feel we've got guys in the lineup that can step into that role and score goals for us. That's why you need depth. There are going to be injuries. There are going to be card accumulations. This happens every season.

"Randi got a red card, it's unfortunate, but the rest of the guys are going to have to step up and get the job done. I'm sure they're looking forward to getting the chance to get on the field and show what they can do."

Anhaeuser was still mulling over his choices at forward after Thursday morning's training session. King will most likely start at one striker spot with either Darren Spicer, Lester More, Lazo Alavanja or even Stephen Armstrong getting the nod at the other forward position.

"Aaron has a lot of the same qualities that Randi does, so their games are very similar," Anhaeuser said. "We haven't played Darren up top a lot this season, but he has good pace. Lester is a seasoned professional, so we have four or five good forwards to pick from. I could even stick Stephen Armstrong up there if we really needed him.

"I'm not going to make any firm decisions until (today). We've got confidence in whoever we put out there because we know they can put the ball in the back of the net."

Anhaeuser said the Battery's basic attack will change little tonight against the Thunder.

"We won't change our philosophy, we're going to push forward as much as we can, but we might do some things a little different tactically," Anhaeuser said. "At this point in the season we're not going to change what we do because we're missing one player. We've had a lot of success at home this season. We've been able to score a lot of goals and hopefully that continues against Minnesota."

Defender Marco Reda and midfielder David Kenga are not exepcted to be available tonight. Reda is still nursing a pulled calf muscle, while Kenga has an undisclosed lower leg injury.

"Marco is getting closer," Anhaeuser said. "I don't know if he'll be ready (tonight), but hopefully by Tuesday's U.S. Open Cup game he'll be ready. I'm not sure even if he's ready to go if he'll play Tuesday against Charlotte. We've got to make the best decision for the team. We definitely think Marco is ready to start pushing on the door to get back into the starting lineup."

Reach Andrew Miller at apmiller@postandcourier.com and check out the new Charleston Battery blog at www.charleston.net/blogs/battery/