Palmetto State Report: April 10

Plenty of games to see around the state this week

It wasn’t that long ago that you had to really look far and wide to find professional soccer matches around the Palmetto State. Sure, the Battery has been with us since 1993 and teams like the Myrtle Beach Sea Dawgs, Greenville Lions, and Columbia Heat filled in some gaps…but it’s a great problem to have deciding what to watch among the multitude of matches each weekend around South Carolina.

Here are some can’t-miss soccer moments to consider:

The Charleston Battery defeated the Tampa Bay Rowdies 2-1 last weekend and now host the Pittsburgh Riverhounds in their next USL Championship match on Saturday at 7:30 PM. The Battery (6 points) are in 6^th place while the Hounds (7 points) are in 5^th place in the Eastern Conference standings. A win on Saturday helps keep pace with Loudoun all the way at 12 points sitting in first place.

The Battery then have a quick turnaround as they host the South Georgia Tormenta in round three of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup on Tuesday, April 15 with a 7:30 PM kickoff. This is a rematch of the thrilling 2024 Round of 32 match that saw MD Myers record a hat trick in the 3-2 ET win for the Battery. That game was seconds away from penalties before Myers grabbed the game-winner.

The Greenville Triumph were bounced 3-1 from the US Open Cup by One Knoxville in a very physical match in round two. The Triumph then defeated the Charlotte Independence 1-0 before welcoming back One Knoxville for a USL League One match on Wednesday night. One Knoxville again squeaked out a tight result, this time with a 1-0 final in another physical match versus the Triumph. The Triumph almost had the equalizer deep into stoppage time but a scrambling, goal-line, over-head kick saw One Knox clear their goal mouth and preserve the result. Greenville and Tormenta are said to be fierce rivals but this Triumph and One Knox series is really getting spicy. Greenville won’t see Knoxville again until October 25 in the final match day of the season…unless they both advance and play in the USL Jägermeister Cup knockout rounds.

Defending UPSL National Champs Soda City FC are undefeated to open the spring 2025 season and have Charleston United visiting Irmo HS on Saturday night for a 6 PM kickoff. The Columbia derby went 2-0 to Soda and the champs look to be making another strong push to the top of the UPSL Mid-Atlantic table.

Charleston United lowered the boom on visiting Boiling Springs 6-0 in their last UPSL match at Pinewood Prep. Leonardo DAmbrosio recorded a hat trick for Charleston in the match. Charleston gets a much tougher test this coming weekend at Soda City.

The SC United Heat travel to Boiling Springs for a Sunday afternoon match at Oakbrook Prep School. The Heat created some quality chances versus Soda City last match but were unlucky to not finish a couple of looks at goal. Sunday should find the Heat finish the chances against a team reeling after the recent result in Charleston.

Big news out of Columbia as the Soda City Women will be fielding teams in both the UPSL and WPSL leagues this spring. The home matches will be doubleheaders as the UPSL team plays at 3 PM and the WPSL team plays at 6 PM. The first doubleheader is May 17 as the Carolina Football Club Swarm visits for the double bill. June 7 and the weekend of June 21 and 22 are the other doubleheader matchdays.

Palmetto State Results and Upcoming fixtures:

Charleston Battery (USL C): 2-1 Win over Tampa Bay. 2-2-0 record. Next VS Pittsburgh April 12

Greenville Triumph (USL One): 0-1 Loss to One Knoxville 2-2-1 record. Next @ Chattanooga Red Wolves April 19

Soda City FC (UPSL Premier): 2-0 Win over SC United Heat 2-0-0 record. Next VS Charleston United April 12

SC United Heat (UPSL Premier): 0-2 Loss to Soda City. 2-1-0 record. Next @ Boiling Springs April 13

Charleston United (UPSL Premier): 6-0 Win over Boiling Springs 2-1-0 record. Next @ Soda City April 12

Boiling Springs SC (UPSL Premier): 0-6 Loss to Charleston 1-2-0 record. Next VS SC United Heat April 13

Boiling Springs SC 2 (UPSL Division 1): 2-1 Win over Emerald City. 1-1-0 record. Next VS Electric City April 13

Emerald City FC (UPSL Division 1): 1-2 Loss to Boiling Springs 2. 1-1-0 record. Next @ ILM FC April 13

Electric City FC (UPSL Division 1): 2-0 Win over Liberty SC 1-0-0 record. Next @ Boiling Springs 2 April 13

SC United Bantams (USL Two): No results. 0-0-0 record. Next @ Tobacco Road May 21

SC United Bantams Women (USL W): No results. 0-0-0 record. Next @ Carolina Ascent May 17

Greenville Liberty (USL W): No results. 0-0-0 record. Next VS One Knoxville May 14

Soda City Women (WPSL). No results. 0-0-0 record. Next VS Carolina Football Club May 17

Soda City Women (UPSL). No results. 0-0-0 record. Next VS Carolina Football Club May 17

Boiling Springs Women (UPSL). No results. 0-0-0 record. Next TBA