Blackstock lifts Charleston Battery to 1-0 road win at Loudoun United

Charleston Battery left Segra Field with a 1-0 win over Loudoun United FC in Leesburg, Virginia, after substitute Langston Blackstock scored the match’s only goal in the second half. Luis Zamudio backed it up with four saves and a shutout, giving Charleston a road result built on one timely finish and a calm defensive night.

Blackstock’s goal was the kind of bench contribution that can change a tight USL Championship match in one touch. Charleston did not need a barrage of chances to take all three points, only the right substitute at the right moment, and Blackstock delivered after coming on in the second half. The result was Charleston’s third road victory in league play in 2026, another example of a team finding ways to win away from home without relying on a wide margin.

Zamudio’s clean sheet mattered just as much. Charleston signed the goalkeeper to its 2025 roster on Jan. 21, 2025, and he later earned a place on the league’s Team of the Week for Week 24 on Aug. 19, 2025. Against Loudoun, he handled every test that reached him, turning away four shots and protecting a one-goal lead that never grew comfortable for the visitors.

The win also fit Charleston’s recent pattern of producing results in different ways. Blackstock had already scored in a 2-0 victory over Detroit on May 30, and the Battery also posted lopsided wins over Jacksonville, 5-2 on June 21, and Brooklyn, 5-0 on Aug. 1. That range, from narrow road edge to multi-goal home control, has given Charleston a deeper set of answers as the season has progressed.

The Battery had also already shown they could handle Loudoun in another setting, beating the club 2-1 in Prinx Tires USL Cup group play on April 25 and extending an unbeaten series run across all competitions to 13 games. This latest meeting followed the same script at Segra Field: Loudoun kept it close, Charleston found the decisive moment, and a substitute and a goalkeeper supplied the difference.