The Charleston Battery claimed sole possession of first place in the USL First Division at Blackbaud Stadium Saturday night playing the Portland Timbers to a 1-1 draw.

The Charleston Battery claimed sole possession of first place in the USL First Division at Blackbaud Stadium Saturday night playing the Portland Timbers to a 1-1 draw.

Randi Patterson put the Battery in the lead in the 64th minute but Portland tied the game with a late goal. The draw keeps the Battery unbeaten on the season and one point clear at the top of the table.

The draw moves the Battery to 6-0-6 (24 points) in league play and 7-0-6 in all competitions.

Portland, unbeaten coming into the match in its last nine including a 0-0 draw Thursday at second-place Carolina looked to be the sharper of the two clubs in the opening minutes of the match.

“We came out flat in the first half-hour but we picked it up after that,” said Battery head coach Mike Anhaeuser.

In just the fifth minute Battery goalkeeper Dusty Hudock was forced to save a George Josten blast from the top of the penalty area. Hudock covered the ground spectacularly but could only slap the ball away at the feet of Brian Farber. Farber’s put the rebound over the crossbar. Ten minutes later it was Hudock again covering the ground from the far post to paw away another shot by Josten, this time cleared to safety by John Wilson.

The Battery’s best chance in the first stanza came in the 38th minute off the head of Nelson Akwari whose header off a Tyler Hemming corner kick beat Timber goalkeeper Steve Cronin but smacked off the crossbar and was cleared to safety.

In the second half the Battery picked up where it left off at the end of the first half, controlling the run of play with methodical midfield pressure. The continual pressure paid dividends in the 64th minute when Chris Williams stripped Timber’s defender David Hayes of the ball on the right flank 30 yards from goal. Williams’ deft flick found Patterson streaking into the penalty area. Patterson, netting his second goal in league play and third in all competitions right footer beat Timber goalkeeper Steve Cronin to the upper-corner of his near post.

“We came out of the gates in the second half,” said Anhaeuser. We really put pressure on them which paid off with the goal.”

With Portland pushing numbers forward for the equalizer, the Battery were forced to replace Hudock with 10 minutes to play after he began suffering a back injury.

“Dusty’s back started tightening up and he didn’t want to push it,” Anhaeuser said. “He’s a professional. He’s been in this game long enough to know his body.

Coming in cold off the bench, reserve goalkeeper Keith Wiggans could do little to stop the Timber’s equalizer with just six minutes to play. Mandjo Keita, who entered the half ten minutes earlier, snuck in to nod a Scot Thompson cross past a diving Wiggans from close range.

The Battery responded with a flurry of shots in the waning moments but could not find a way through the tightly packed Timber defense.

The Battery return to action Tuesday in the second round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup at Miami F.C. Blues followed by a pair league matches at Puerto Rico June 18 and 20.