CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Charleston Battery advanced to the Third Round of the 2018 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday night as Patrick Okonkwo’s first professional goal earned a 1-0 victory against the Premier Development League’s South Georgia Tormenta FC at MUSC Health Stadium Wednesday night.

With the win, the Battery advanced past their first match in the U.S. Open Cup for the 13th consecutive year. Charleston will play host to the Elm City Express next Wednesday night at MUSC Health Stadium in the next round.

“The key is win and move on,” said Battery Head Coach Mike Anhaeuser. “We were unfortunate to get the red card there, but the guys defended well. I don’t think we gave up a shot which is fantastic for our defense.”

After a stop-start opening 20 minutes the Battery took the lead through Atlanta United loanee Okonkwo. Battery forward Victor Mansaray received a pass from Nico Rittmeyer on the left wing and served an in-swinging cross towards the back post. Okonkwo rose up and met the cross, nodding it in to put the hosts ahead.

The Battery continued the strong defensive play they’ve recently displayed in the USL regular season throughout the game, and despite being reduced to 10 men in the 63rd minute when Rittmeyer was shown his second yellow card the hosts didn’t concede a shot on goal to their PDL opponents. Battery goalkeeper Odisnel Cooper earned the shutout, the team’s third in four games across all competitions.

Tormenta FC was also reduced to 10 men in the 87th minute when Nil Vinyals was shown his second yellow card for a late challenge on Kotaro Higashi. With the numbers even, the Battery saw out the game and earned their fifth straight win overall.