Familiar foes: Akwari faces former team today

Charleston defender Nelson Akwari might be the nicest guy on the Battery roster this season.

But even Akwari's kindness has its limits.

The Charleston Battery will take on the Charlotte Eagles, of the USL Second Division, in the second round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup tonight beginning at 7:30 p.m. at Blackbaud Stadium.

The winner will face Major League Soccer's Houston Dynamo, the defending MLS champions, on July 1 in the tournament's quarterfinals.

Akwari spent the entire 2007 season with Charlotte and developed several close friendships with players currently on the Eagles roster. But Akwari will put those friendships on hold for a couple of hours tonight.

"You don't have many friends on the soccer pitch," Akwari said after Monday's training session. "Before the game and after the game, of course, those guys are still my friends, but during those 90 minutes when we're playing, I want to beat them as badly as they want to beat us.

"I made a lot of great friends last season in Charlotte, and I'm sure those friendships will last long after I've stopped playing the game. But we're all competitive and we all want to win."

The U.S. Open Cup, the U.S. Soccer Federation's national championship, is an annual competition open to all amateur and professional soccer teams affiliated with U.S. Soccer. It is the oldest annual team tournament in the United States and among the oldest soccer tournaments of its type in the world, having crowned a champion for 94 consecutive years dating back to 1914. In 1999, the competition was renamed to honor longtime soccer pioneer Lamar Hunt.

A year ago, the Battery advanced to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open Cup, beating the Central Florida Kraze, the El Paso Patriots and Houston before falling to FC Dallas in the quarterfinals. Charleston has twice advanced to the semifinal stage of the tournament (1999 and 2004) but has never reached the final.

Using mostly second-team players, the Battery defeated the ASC New Stars, an amateur team based out of Houston, 3-0, in the opening round of the tournament two weeks ago. Charleston forward Darren Spicer scored all three goals for the Battery. Charlotte defeated the Clearwater Galactics, 5-2, in their first-round game. The Eagles are in first place in the USL Second Division with an 8-1-2 mark and lead the league in scoring with 24 goals.

"They're a quality side," Akwari said. "They're a Christian-ministry team, so guys who might play at a higher level go there because of what the team does off the field. They've got a couple of former MLS players, so they're a very good team, a team we can't afford to take lightly."

The Eagles are led offensively by striker Dustin Swinehart, who leads the USL Second Division in goals (10) and points (24).

"Charlotte isn't going to sit back, they're a very strong offensive team, so they're going to attack us," said Charleston Battery coach Mike Anhaeuser. "They're not your typical Second Division team. They've got several players that have been in our league, so they have some quality that most teams in their division don't have. Dustin is a great goal scorer, so we've got to mark him and be aware of where he is on the field at all times."

Charleston striker Randi Patterson and defender Marco Reda should be back in the lineup for tonight's game. Patterson was suspended by the USL First Division for last Friday night's game with Minnesota after receiving a red card in an earlier match against Montreal. Reda had missed seven straight games with a pulled calf muscle and a high ankle sprain.

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