Pfeffer, Catic, Marquez and City Islanders shut down in Charleston

Philadelphia Union defender Richie Marquez saw the ball what seemed like more than Dzenan Catic and Zach Pfeffer combined as the three Union loanees and the Harrisburg City Islanders dropped their second straight game to the Charleston Battery on Saturday night.

Marquez, making his first appearance for the City Islanders this season, made numerous tackles and sliding clearances as wave after wave of attacks came from the Battery from the opening whistle.

In the 62nd minute the home side finally unlocked the Marquez-led defense with a goal by Harviel Cordoves, his third of the young season for the 3-0 Battery. Dane Kelly, who came on for Cordoves, added a second goal eight minutes later.

Catic struggled early in the match with some errant passes, but did appear to gain confidence in his hold-up play as the game wore on, but he still suffered from a lack of service from an offensive unit that has yet to fire on all cylinders despite scoring twice in the opening week loss to Pittsburgh Riverhounds last week.

Some of the brightest moments on the offensive side of the ball did come when Pfeffer and Catic were able to combine - Pfeffer had a great chance in front of goal in the sixth minute but scuffed the shot wide - but the chances were much too scarce.

Pfeffer, playing in his second straight City Islanders match while serving a two-game suspension in MLS, didn't do much with the free kick opportunities either. He finished the game with two shots, neither on goal while Catic had just one shot he missed wide on at the end of the game.

The Union trio played all 90 minutes of the match.