The Charleston Battery pulled off the largest comeback in USL Championship Playoffs history Saturday, erasing a 3-0 halftime deficit to beat Hartford Athletic in a penalty shootout and advance to the Eastern Conference Final.

The Battery scored three times in the final stretch of regulation and stoppage time, then won the shootout 5-4 before a sellout crowd of 5,228 at Patriots Point, according to Live 5 News.

Hartford struck fast. Michee Ngalina scored in the 13th minute, Barry Coffey doubled the lead in the 16th and Sadat Anaku made it 3-0 in the 31st. Charleston went into halftime trailing by three goals despite outshooting Hartford 10-6.

Head coach Ben Pirmann sent Colton Swan, Langston Blackstock and Nathan Messer off the bench at halftime. The move paid off.

Blackstock drew a penalty in the 79th minute when he was taken down in the box. Emilio Ycaza converted from the spot in the 80th minute to cut the deficit to 1-3. It was Ycaza's ninth goal of the season and first in the postseason.

Three minutes later, Swan headed home a Jeremy Kelly corner kick to make it 2-3. Swan's goal was his team-high 14th of 2026. Kelly's assist was his team-leading 11th across all competitions, setting a new career best for a single season.

Then came the equalizer. In the seventh minute of second-half stoppage time, Houssou Landry delivered a cross to the far post. Kirill Pakhomov charged forward and buried a diving header to tie it 3-3 on what the Charleston Battery called "virtually the final play of regulation."

"We talked at halftime. We just said, 'Look, you just have to chip it away,'" Pirmann said after the match. "You can't get three until you get two. You can't get two until you get one."

Neither side scored in 30 minutes of extra time. Goalkeeper Luis Zamudio made a key save in the 116th minute against Augi Williams. Pirmann then subbed in goalkeeper John Berner in the 119th minute with penalties looming.

Both teams converted their first four penalties. In the fifth round, Berner denied Williams from the spot. Kelly stepped up and sent Hartford goalkeeper Antony Siaha the wrong way to seal the 5-4 shootout win.

It was the second straight week Berner and Kelly delivered the decisive moments in a shootout. The pair did the same in the quarterfinal win over Rhode Island FC on Oct. 31.

"I'm proud of this team. I'm at a little bit of a loss for words. Just chaos," Pirmann said. "The crowd was electric. It wasn't set to be" a great evening, "and then it was a great evening."

Ycaza credited the halftime substitutes for sparking the rally. "Langston drew the penalty. Colton scored the header, and Kirill came on, and we started playing a lot more through the middle," Ycaza said. "He ends up getting the header to tie and push us into overtime."

The USL Championship confirmed the victory sent Charleston to the Eastern Conference Final for the third time in four years. The No. 2-seeded Battery will host No. 4 Louisville City FC on Saturday, Nov. 14, at 6 p.m. ET at Patriots Point. The game will air on ESPN+.

Louisville advanced with its own late comeback Saturday, scoring three goals from the 79th minute on to beat Miami FC 3-2 at Lynn Family Stadium.

The winner of the Nov. 14 match earns a spot in the USL Championship Final, scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 21, at noon ET on CBS.