Charleston Battery and Trinidad and Tobago striker Randi Patterson sprinted down the field at Blackbaud Stadium, his face dripping with sweat and his breath coming in quick short bursts.
"I'm so glad to be playing outdoors again," said Patterson, who led the Battery with 10 goals a year ago. "The indoor game is like playing a totally different game. It's a lot like hockey where you play in shifts and are on the field for only a couple of minutes. The field is so small indoors and it's a much more physical game because there's no room to move."
Patterson, fellow striker Dan Antoniuk (Chicago) and Stephen Armstrong (Chicago), three of the top scoring threats for the Charleston Battery, are still adjusting to life outdoors.
It's one of the reasons why the Battery has yet to score a goal this season.
The Battery takes on the Minnesota Thunder tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Blackbaud Stadium.
The Battery finished with scoreless draws against Vancouver (April 11) and Montreal (April 18) in its first two matches of the season.
"I'd be worried if we were not getting chances," Antoniuk said. "The main thing is we are getting chances. We played two of the better defensive teams in the league in Vancouver and Montreal and we're still working on our chemistry."
Charleston coach Mike Anhaeuser is more of a half-full kind of guy. While the Battery hasn't scored a goal yet, they also haven't given one up yet either.
"We didn't give up any goals against two of the traditional powers in the league, so those are good results," he said. "Obviously, we're disappointed that we haven't scored, but that's going to come. We created some quality chances and hopefully, we can get two or three (tonight) against Minnesota.
With five new starters in the lineup, the Battery's attack has look disjointed at times in the first two games.
"Developing good chemistry is always a key for any attack," said Battery midfielder Stephen Armstrong. "I think all three teams, us and our first two opponents we played, were pretty solid defensively and that's certainly a factor. Hopefully, we start clicking more offensively as we get more matches under our belts."