In one way, Aaron Molloy’s first season with the Charleston Battery has been somewhat defined by the club’s contests against the Tampa Bay Rowdies.

When the teams first met at Al Lang Stadium on July 27, the Irish midfielder was forced out by an injury during the first half having already notched an assist as the Battery took a two-goal lead, only to eventually fall 4-2 to their hosts. At that moment, there was concern as to whether Molloy might be gone for the remainder of the campaign.

Having avoided that outcome, Molloy made his return as a second-half substitute against the Rowdies in the regular season rematch at Patriots Point on September 21. In 10 minutes of action, he helped the Battery see out a 3-1 victory, completing 7 of 8 passes in his return to the field.

Then on Sunday, as the sides squared off for a third time in the Eastern Conference Semifinals of the 2024 USL Championship Playoffs presented by Terminix, Molloy called game.

With the contest level and seven minutes to play before extra time, the playmaker’s pinpoint free kick to the top-right corner of the net from beyond the top-left edge of the penalty area sent the Battery back to the Eastern Conference Final with a 2-1 victory and announced his return with authority.

“I was feeling good over that one,” said Molloy. “You see it go in the back of the net, kind of chaos breaks out. It’s probably one of the biggest moments in my career. Semifinal here at Patriots Point, special place to get this team back into a final again. It really means the world.”

As well as the Battery fared with Molloy on the sidelines for two months, however, the Irish midfielder shapes the game in a way that few in the Championship can.

Now, he’ll get to bring that influence to next Saturday’s Eastern Conference Final against Rhode Island FC as the Battery try to claim a second consecutive conference title and return trip to the USL Championship Final.

“The sold-out crowd means the world to us as a club, as players,” said Molloy. “When we went 0-1 down, we could really hear them cheer us on and that meant a lot. I don’t know if the game’s on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, next week, but really would like to get you guys out here again at Patriots Point and hopefully another trophy for Charleston Battery next week.”