The Seattle Sounders moved past the Charleston Battery in the USL First Division table and extended their win streak to three matches with a 2-1 victory at Blackbaud Stadium in Charleston Thursday night.

Nathan Knox and Greg Howes both found their third goals of the season to secure the win for Seattle. Stephen Armstrong pulled one back for the Battery in the 70th minute, but the Sounders held on to take three valuable road points.

Seattle looked shaky early on but held on through the critical first ten minutes of the match. Sebastien Le Toux and Josh Gardner produced some promising work on the flanks, but they failed to connect with a target man in front of the goal.

The teams exchanged efforts frantically in the 90 degree heat with Knox, who came into the Sounders side to replace the suspended Leighton O’Brien, and Howes both having chances that they could have done better with just after the 20 minute mark.

Sebastien Le Toux put together an effort of his own from 23 yards out just past the 25th minute but saw his rocket strike miss by mere inches.

Charleston had an immediate offensive answer to every Sounders attack, but neither team could find the back of the net although Seattle enjoyed the better of the opportunities. Several times the Sounders managed to put the ball into Knox, who should have had his third and fourth goals of the season before the half hour mark but couldn’t find the final strike.

Knox’s frustration spilled over as he was booked for dissent. He responded by scoring the opening goal of the match for the Sounders in the 38th minute after following a ball that rolled through the Battery’s backline and burying it in the back of the net despite furious pleas for a foul from the Charleston bench.

The goal took the edge off the Battery squad and the Sounders controlled the run of play, continuing to apply pressure and create opportunities. They worked deliberately at every throw in and every free kick to make sure that they took their lead into the half.

Shortly after the half Kevin Sakuda crossed from the right side of the field and Howes put an exclamation point on his man of the match performance with his third goal of the season in the net with an easy header past keeper Dusty Hadduck.

Charleston chased the game in the second half, bringing Aaron King and Ian Bennet into the match, but they struggled for long periods in the searing heat to string more than two passes together.

Seattle continued to attack the Battery goal but only really attacked through default, as possession and preservation of the three valuable road points took priority.

Complacency took it’s toll as Bennett buried a ball in the back of Ben Dragavon’s net in the 70th minute after the first period of prolonged possession of the half by the Battery.

Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer responded to the goal immediately by replacing Knox with Kenji Treschuk, whose appeared in all but one match this season.

Charleston continued the bombardment and Seattle nearly gave it all back in the 78th minute when Charleston was awarded a free kick just to the right hand side of the 18 yard box and Stephen Armstrong bent the left footer into the cross bar.

In the 84th the Sounders nearly saw their lead disappear again when Byron Alvarez hit a floating corner to King on the back post. His header was stopped by a combination of Dragavon and Treschuk on the goal line.

Charleston continued to pound at the Seattle defense with their second half substitutes as King went close again from the top left corner of the 18 yard box.

The Sounders packed 22 tired legs behind the ball for the final six minutes of the match plus four minutes of stoppage time trying to hold on against the charging Battery.

Dragavon made two exceptional saves in the final few minutes to secure the three points and his second consecutive victory between the pipes as a Sounder.

The Sounders who improved to 4-4-3, 15pts, on the season continue their road trip Saturday night against the Atlanta Silverbacks, before returning home to begin U.S Open Cup play with a first round match at Starfire Stadium on Tuesday night.