Charleston Battery drop Atlanta Silverbacks 2-1 in second round of 2017 U.S. Open Cup

The Charleston Battery netted a pair of goals in the first half as they clipped the Atlanta Silverbacks 2-1 in the second round of the U.S. Open Cup at Silverbacks Park in DeKalb County. The Battery move on to the third round, where they’ll face the NASL’s Jacksonville Armada on the road at Hodges Stadium on May 31. Jacksonville defeated NPSL side Miami United FC 2-1 Wednesday evening in South Florida.

The Silverbacks were able to go toe-to-toe with the Battery and had a few chances to open the scoring but couldn’t quite get there. In the 19th minute, though, following a restart, it was Charleston’s Forrest Lasso being put on the other end of a free kick and heading it past Thomas Hunter to make it a 1-0 contest. In the 44th, the Atlanta United loanee, Jeffrey Otoo, found himself with the ball in the box right in front of the net and struck for his first professional goal to make it 2-0.

Atlanta looked to claw back in it as Alex Harlley was awarded a penalty in the 73th minute, and the man from Togo converted from the spot to make it 2-1. But Charleston was able to do enough to come away with the victory and move on to the third round of competition. The Silverbacks certainly had several opportunities throughout the contest and likely would have changed the complexion of this match had they been able to convert on those, but in the end, it was the second division side avoiding the upset and advancing.

There was cause for concern for the Battery as Lasso had to come off due to injury in the 43rd minutes. Charleston have a league match at Bethlehem Steel FC next Thursday, so his status for that one remains to be seen.