Rittmeyer Is Back for 2020

Another College of Charleston alumnus will be plying his trade at Patriot’s Point in Black and Yellow in the coming season, as Nico Rittmeyer was announced to return for the Charleston Battery’s 2020 campaign on Thursday evening.

Entering his fourth season for the Battery, Nico Rittmeyer’s standing within the team has steadily improved throughout his time with the club. As a player who featured with the Battery’s youth teams before going to school at C of C, the winger racked up 13 appearances in his first season as a pro in 2017.

That improved in 2018, as he appeared in all but two matches as an integral part of the Battery’s attack as the team finished 4th in the Eastern Conference, while Rittmeyer personally earned a multi-year contract ahead of the 2019 campaign.

Rittmeyer’s game winner against North Carolina FC deep in stoppage time in September was important on multiple fronts, as it gave the Black and Yellow their seventh Southern Derby Cup, and helped the team on its way to a 12th consecutive berth in the USL Playoffs.

Perhaps the biggest thing that fans will be looking for from Rittmeyer in 2020 is an uptick in goals. This is something that saw improvement in the closed season, but, with the Battery inverting their wingers for the majority of the campaign, meaning that they were closer to goal, Rittmeyer’s two league goals, while both at important moments, is another indicator of the struggles with consistency that plagued the team in 2019.

The Battery begin their season on March 8th against Atlanta United II. Their first home game in on March 28th against Philadelphia Union II.