Northern Colorado Hailstorm 3, Richmond Kickers 1
| RICHMOND KICKERS | 1 | 17′ Folla (Own Goal) |
| NORTHERN COLORADO HAILSTORM | 3 | 50′ Opara (Rogers), 72′ Hernandez, 83′ King (Powder) |
WINDSOR, Colo. — The Richmond Kickers (6-6-7, 25 pts) fell on the road at the USL League One leader, Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC (10-1-5, 35 pts), Saturday night as the hosts took the overall season series.
The match started back and forth as NoCo found a half-chance in the 11th minute that ended with a shot wide of the goal before the Kickers answered with their own half-chance from a corner kick in the 13th minute.
Four minutes later, Richmond found their breakthrough.
Michael Hornsby and Ryan Sierakowski linked up for a give-and-go near midfield before Sierakowski lofted a pass up the left wing that Hornsby ran onto and, unmarked, cut inside toward the penalty area. He then lasered a low cross into the box as Nil Vinyals and Emiliano Terzaghi both made runs to the six-yard box with Northern Colorado’s Leo Folla trying to get between them. As all three went for the cross the ball would then take a deflection off of Folla and made its way into the net.
Richmond created a chance to nearly double its lead in the 37th minute from a corner kick. After the ensuing corner was deflected away, Terzaghi scooped up the ball and passed it back out to Vinyals who whipped a cross back into the danger area. The ball was deflected up into the air and Nathan Aune caught the ball on the volley and sent it on target, forcing a save from the keeper.
The Kickers took a lead into the half as the hosts made changes at the break to try and find an equalizer.
It took 49 minutes for NoCo to register their first shot on target but it proved to be the tying goal as Arthur Rogers hit an inswinging cross that found the head of Lucky Opara who sent it into the net.
Halftime substitute Marky Hernandez found the go-ahead 22 minutes later. A Northern Colorado counterattack saw Trevor Amann take a shot on target that was deflected at the line, but Hernandez was able to get a foot on the ball and score on the putback.
Less than five days after making his Kickers debut against Comunicaciones FC in the club’s international friendly, 16-year-old Landon Johnson made his league debut, subbing on for Sierakowski in the 79th minute.
Northern Colorado doubled its lead in the 82nd minute as Billy King hit a curling shot from the top of the box after Noah Powder set him up with a cross from a counterattack.
The Kickers remain on the road as they make their first-ever trip to Lexington SC on Saturday, July 29th. The club will host an official watch party for the match at Three Notch’d RVA Collab House. Kickoff in the Bluegrass State is set for 7:00 p.m.
Richmond then returns home on Saturday, August 5th to host Forward Madison FC on Super Secret Mystery Theme Night presented by First Tee – Greater Richmond. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. Tickets are available at richmondkickers.com/tickets.
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