CHARLESTON , S.C. (WCIV) — Eight players debuted for the Charleston Battery Saturday night in the 2026 season opener at Patriots Point as the hosts never trailed and defeated the defending champion Pittsburgh Riverhounds 2-1 in front of a sold-out crowd.

Charleston started the match on the front foot, but Pittsburgh’s goalkeeper Nico Campuzano held strong. The visitors didn’t record a shot on target until the 33rd minute, and the game appeared to be heading into the halftime break scoreless. Three minutes of stoppage time were added to the first half, and the Battery capitalized.

Knocking on the door to end the half, Charleston won a corner. Sean Suber, a former Riverhound, rose highest to nod home the Battery’s first goal of the season and send them into the break up 1-0.

Wilmer Cabrera, Jr. doubled the lead to 2-0 shortly after play resumed in the 52nd minute with a volley from the edge of the box. The strike marked Cabrera’s first in black and yellow.

10 minutes later, Pittsburgh gained a lifeline when Charleston’s Nathan Messer, who assisted Cabrera’s goal, scored on his own net.

Battery goalkeeper Luis Zamudio came up in the clutch to deny an equalizer in stoppage time, and Charleston held on for the three points.

READ MORE | “Battery Head Coach Ben Pirmann inks multi-year deal to extend transformative tenure“

“It was a little bittersweet, scoring against my old club. I have a lot of love for them, being with them the past two years, but it was an amazing feeling,” Suber said of his debut goal. “The crowd erupted. Like I said, family and friends in the crowd, and it was just good to get the three points here at home. It’s amazing to get the first goal here in the new season, and I’m just very blessed.”

In all, eight players made their debuts for Charleston Saturday night, including Messer, Suber, Cabrera, Miguel Berry, Maalique Foster, Colton Swan, Kirill Pakhomov, and Medgy Alexandre. Laurent Kissiedou re-debuted in his first appearance for the club since his initial 2017 debut and spell away.

“Game one is always a little bit of a crapshoot, it’s always a little bit disorganized. We wanted to make sure that every guy individually knew their role, and they were ready and willing to work. Guys were getting cleared in the last 24 hours, stuff like that,” Head Coach Ben Pirmann said of his new players. “I think three [sic] guys made their professional debuts tonight, so we were excited. But now we’ve got to calm down and make sure we’re just a little bit smoother with it.”

Charleston’s next match is Wednesday, March 18 to open the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup First Round at home against Florida Badgers FC before league play returns to Patriots Point on Saturday, March 21 against Birmingham Legion FC.