The Roos seek their first points in Chattanooga
Match Information:
USL League One Regular Season
Chattanooga Red Wolves SC vs Richmond Kickers
CHI Memorial Stadium, Chattanooga, Tennessee
Saturday, April 16th at 7:30 p.m.
Broadcast Information:
Internet: ESPN+
Television: WTVR CBS 6.3
Official Watch Party: Gus’ Bar and Grill
RICHMOND, Va. — The Richmond Kickers (1-0-1) embark on their first road trip of the 2022 USL League One regular season, Saturday night, as they seek out their first points at Chattanooga Red Wolves SC (1-0-1) since the two clubs began playing in the 2019 season.
The rivalry between the two teams has been competitive as all five matchups in Tennessee since 2019 were decided by one goal with the Kickers drawing first blood in the 2020 and 2021 iterations of the match.
The Kickers earned their first win over Chattanooga under Head Coach Darren Sawatzky in a dramatic late-season match up at City Stadium during the 2021 season. The match was a part of the Kickers’ season-defining five-match winning streak in the fall that saw the club propelled into the playoffs — their first postseason appearance since 2016.
Emiliano Terzaghi scored an early second-half goal that proved to be the go-ahead as the Kickers played strong defense against a relentless Red Wolves’ attack before breaking on the counter.
The Kickers are riding momentum for this first 2022 matchup with Chattanooga after the Roos started the 2022 season unbeaten in their first three matches across league and Lamar Hunt US Open Cup play.
The Kickers are averaging two goals scored per match while only conceding one goal across three matches. Reigning back-to-back USL League One MVP and Golden Boot winner Emiliano Terzaghi is tied for the team lead in goals scored alongside midfielder Nil Vinyals.
This past Monday, USL League One recognized Emiliano Terzaghi, Akira Fitzgerald, and Jalen Crisler in the Team of the Week for Week 2. It’s the second time in a row that Terzaghi and Fitzgerald have made an appearance in the league’s weekly honors while Crisler made his first appearance. Additionally, Fitzgerald was awarded save of the week after he made a body-contorting denial in the first half against Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC last Saturday.
Chattanooga is enjoying similar league form to the Kickers after drawing 1-1 in their home opener against Forward Madison FC before scoring three unanswered goals in a comeback 3-1 victory on the road over North Carolina FC. While level on points, the Kickers sit above Chattanooga in the standings because of goal differential.
One Red Wolves player that Richmond will look to negate is left back Aaron Lombardi who is tied for the lead in goals scored for Chattanooga. Lombardi is a very capable player on both ends of the pitch and a half-volleyed goal in week 2 helped catapult him onto the league’s team of the week.
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