ROCK HILL The good news came early Friday night for the Charlotte Eagles - Josh Rife scored the team's first goal of the season 21 minutes into the game at Winthrop's Eagle Field.

Unfortunately for Charlotte, it didn't take long for the bad news to follow. Charleston scored 12 minutes apart to close out the first half and held on for a 2-1 USL Pro victory, leaving the Eagles still looking for their first victory.

"We created a lot of good opportunities, just like we have in the other games," Charlotte assistant coach Kevin Sephton said. "Scoring our first goal was great, but giving up two in the rest of the half was disappointing. Keeping it at 1-1 would have made it a different game in the second half."

The lid-lifter for Charlotte (0-3-1) came close to the halfway point of the first half. Rife, who had hit the crossbar with a shot minutes earlier, took a tight cross inside the 6-yard box from Sallieu Bundu and headed the ball into the net.

The Battery (3-1), however, bounced back with the equalizer 11 minutes later. Seedy Bah drilled a shot past goalkeeper Eric Reed out of a crowd in the 6-yard box.

A controversial set piece put Charleston ahead for good in extra time at the end of the half. The Eagles were called for a foul when midfielder Jorge Herrera became tangled up with a Charleston player about 22 yards from the goal.

Nicki Paterson slammed a bending free kick that Reed got a hand on but couldn't keep out of the net.

"We didn't think it was a foul to start with. Their guy just fell on Jorge," Sephton said. "But give (Paterson) credit, it was a great free kick."

The Battery spent the second half protecting its one-goal advantage, content to lay back on defense and clog up the middle of the pitch. Rife missed the Eagles' best second-half chance during the 60th minute, taking a pass from Mark Bloom and missing a one-on-one with the goalkeeper from about 5 yards.

"We made some changes and were more attack-oriented in the second half," Sephton said. "But once it got to 2-1 they sat back and that made it more difficult."

The Eagles outshot Charleston 13-5, including a 5-1 advantage in the second half.

The Eagles will be until a May12 road game against the Los Angeles Blues in Corona, Calif. The next home game will be May 20 against Antigua Barracuda FC at Charlotte Christian.