Patterson striking often for first-place Charleston

Tyrone Walker
The Post and Courier

Charleston striker Randi Patterson (center) leads the USL First Division in goals and points. The Battery hosts Atlanta at 7:30 p.m. today.

It has been a while since Charleston Battery striker Randi Patterson has been on a goal-scoring streak like this.

Patterson, a two-time Southern Conference Player of the Year at UNC Greensboro, has five goals in his last four games and leads the USL First Division in scoring after the first month of the season.

The Battery, which sits atop the USL First Division standings, takes on Atlanta at 7:30 tonight at Blackbaud Stadium.

After a slow start, Patterson has found the scoring touch that made him an All-American with the Spartans and leads the USL First Division in goals (5) and points (10).

"The last time I was scoring like this was back in high school," Patterson said. "I'm a little surprised that I'm scoring goals like I am right now, but I'll take it. I knew I could score at this level, but I didn't think it was going to be like this."

Patterson, who had 61 goals during his four-year career with the Spartans, did not have a goal in his first three games in a Battery uniform. But it's been nearly a year since Patterson was involved in a regular season game at any level. After getting drafted by Major League Soccer's New York Red Bulls last spring, Patterson spent all last season on the bench.

"I had to get used to playing at the professional level and in this league," Patterson said. "I didn't play at all last season, so it took me a while to get my shot back and my timing down again. The first couple of games I got a little frustrated because I'm paid to score goals and I wasn't scoring.

"It just took me a couple of games to get used to the league and then get used to my teammates. But now, everything is clicking, I've got my confidence and everything is OK again."

It took four games, but Patterson finally got his first professional goal during a regular season game off a header from a terrific pass from defender Kevin Nylen.

"I can't tell you how relieved I was after that first goal," Patterson said. "I was frustrated through those first three games. That goal took a lot of pressure off of me and I was able to focus on what I do and I was able to put a couple more in the back of the net."

Patterson followed that up with two goals against Miami FC and one each against Montreal and Rochester in a rematch between the two teams.

"Confidence is a very funny thing," said Charleston coach Mike Anhaeuser. "Randi is playing with a lot of confidence and right now he's like a baseball player in a hitting streak. Everything he's getting his foot or head on is going into the net.

"He's done very well and guys are getting him the ball. He's also started to pounce on some chances in the box, so we want to continue to get Randi the ball when he's playing like this." Not surprisingly, after starting the season 0-1-2, the Battery is 4-0-0 since Patterson started scoring.

"I don't think that's a coincidence," Anhaeuser said. "When you've got a player that's scoring like Randi is right now, the rest of the guys tend to feed off of that kind of energy."

Lost in all of Patterson's goals has been the Battery's defense, which has given up just two goals in the last four games.

"Besides the two games of the season, we've done very well defensively," Anhaeuser said. "If you don't give up a goal, you can't lose, and that's kind of been our motto all season. We've been very solid defensively. We haven't given up a lot of goals, but more importantly we haven't been giving up quality scoring chances, which is almost as important. The fewer chances a team has, the fewer goals they're going to score in the end."

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

Atlanta at Charleston

When: Tonight, 7:30 p.m.

Where: Blackbaud Stadium

Records: Atlanta (2-2-2, 8 points); Charleston (4-1-2, 14 points).

Tickets: 971-4625.