Connally Edozien recorded the first hat trick in Carolina RailHawks history as the RailHawks defeated the Charleston Battery 3-0 on Tuesday night in USL First Division play in Charleston, S.C.

Edozien scored in the sixth, 41st and 66th minutes for the RailHawks, who rebounded from a 2-0 loss Friday at Rochester.

Chris McClellan got his ninth shutout of the season for Carolina.

At halftime, a check for $10,000 was presented to the City of Charleston Fireman's Fund in memory of the nine Charleston firefighters who died in June.

Part of the money was collected June 23 when the Battery visited SAS Soccer Park in Cary, and the RailHawks added to that to bring the donation to $10,000.

The RailHawks return to SAS on Friday to host the Atlanta Silverbacks at 7:30 p.m. For ticket information, call Ticketmaster at (919) 834-4000 or go online to www.carolinarailhawks.com.

BECKHAM SAYS HE'LL PLAY: David Beckham said he'll play for the Los Angeles Galaxy tonight in the SuperLiga semifinals against D.C. United in Carson, Calif.

The English superstar practiced Tuesday for the first time since joining the team a month ago. He appeared to move well laterally and got off a few long kicks toward the end of a scrimmage.

"Good to at least get out on the field and have a bit of practice," he said.

The 32-year-old midfielder's nagging left ankle injury isn't completely healed, although Beckham pronounced himself "about 78 percent" ready to go.

"It's not perfect yet, but I think I can at least play half a game tomorrow," he said.

Beckham predicted he could play 45 minutes, which would be welcome news to Galaxy fans, who have only seen their new superstar in action at home for 16 minutes in his July 21 debut in an exhibition against Chelsea.

Beckham has yet to start for the Galaxy since signing a five-year, $32.5 million contract.

He made his Major League Soccer debut on Thursday during the team's four-game road trip but was back on the bench for Sunday's game at New England.

The only suspense today will be whether Beckham starts or comes off the bench, as he did last week.

"He's not going to last the game out because of his fitness level," coach Frank Yallop said. "... I'd rather maybe have him at the end of the game."

ADU DEBUTS: Freddy Adu made his European debut Tuesday in Lisbon, Portugal, drawing cheers when he entered as a first-half substitute for Benfica of Portugal during its 2-1 Champions League victory over FC Copenhagen.

The 18-year-old American came on about 10 minutes before halftime after Copenhagen had tied the score 1-1 in the first-leg, third-round qualifying game. Adu's team travels to Copenhagen for the second leg.

Adu began in his usual forward midfield role before alternating between the wings during the second half. He shied away from dribbling runs at the defense and mostly favored quick, short passes.

Early in the second half, he set up Oscar Cardozo, whose header was kept out by the goalie's fingertips. With 10 minutes to play, Adu tried a bicycle kick, but the shot went far wide of the goal.

U.S. ROSTER PICKED FOR SWEDEN GAME: Landon Donovan, DaMarcus Beasley and Clint Dempsey head a strong roster picked by the United States for next week's exhibition game at Sweden.

Forward Josh Wolff, midfielder Bobby Convey, defender Steve Cherundolo and backup goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann return from injury layoffs to rejoin the Americans, whose Aug. 22 game in Goteborg will be their first in Europe since Bob Bradley took over as coach from Bruce Arena in December. After playing Sweden, the U.S. team faces Brazil on Sept. 9 at Chicago.

The roster is on Scoreboard, Page 2C.