Recap: Charlotte 0, Richmond 0

CHARLOTTE, NC — (Wednesday, July 26, 2017) — The Richmond Kickers (3-10-7) battled to a scoreless draw on the road at the Charlotte Independence (9-3-6) Wednesday night. Matt Turner made six saves in route to his third clean sheet of the season and holding the second place team in the Eastern Conference scoreless.

Sunny Jane had the first chance of the match in the 8th minute. Jane capitalized on a poor pass from Bilal Duckett and made a run towards goal up the left side. He would go for a shot from about a yard outside the Independence box as his foot dragged a bit and his shot would go wide left.

Luiz Fernando looked to carry his momentum from last Saturday as he gets an opportunity in the 14th minute. Mallan Roberts was able to tackle the ball away from Alex Martinez and into the path of Sunny Jane. Jane looked up and quickly played the ball out wide left to find Luiz Fernando with plenty of space, just inside the Charlotte end of the field. Fernando let a shot off at the top of the Charlotte box trying to sneak it in the near post as it sailed just wide.

The Independence would get their first chance in the 20th minute. Jorge Herrera went for a shot on goal and hit Oscar Umar in the hand, forcing referee Christina Unkel to call a free kick on the edge of the Kickers box, just left of the center of goal. Herrera stepped up to take the free kick, trying to go to the near post as Matt Turner came over to make the save and prevent the first goal of the match.

Two minutes later and it was Enzo Martinez looking to get the opener for Charlotte. Martinez collected the ball in the midfield and played it out wide right to David Estrada. Martinez made the run through and Estrada played it back to Martinez. He would get a couple of steps into the Richmond box and wanted to find the far post, but it ended up going wide.

Richmond had their best chance of the first half come in the 31st minute. Oscar Umar controlled the ball in the center of the field, and then slotted the ball through the Charlotte backline as Raul Gonzalez was making a run. Gonzalez played a quick cross from the right side toward the back post. Oliver nearly capitalized on the cross as he slid in just too late to connect with the ball.

Jorge Herrera had another free kick chance on goal come in the 33rd minute. Jalen Robinson was called for a foul on Austin Yearwood about a yard out from the Richmond box. Herrera once again stood over the free kick in about the same position. This time Herrera tried to go to Turner’s left, as the goalkeeper followed it the entire way to make the stop.

Sunny Jane came close to opening the scoring in the 47th minute. Raul Gonzalez went for a long throw in trying to find Oliver as Henry Kalungi leaps to meet the ball and head it away. The ball hits Jane in the chest and he controls it at the top of the Charlotte box. Jane let the ball bounce once and went for a shot that sails just over the Independence goal.

A dangerous chance came for Charlotte in the 58th minute. Enzo Martinez looked to make a run from the left side towards goal as he played it quickly to his brother Alex Martinez. Alex played it back quickly for Enzo and he looked for the far post and the ball goes over.

Enzo Martinez continued to press for a goal in the 68th minute. Second half substitute Lewis Hilton found himself with the ball on the right. Unable to create a chance, he played the ball for Martinez. He turned and went for goal with a low, powerful shot that Matt Turner meets for the save. William Yomby cleared away the deflection before Jorge Herrera could pounce on it.

Charlotte had one final chance to try to steal a late goal. David Spies fed the ball up the right flank for Enzo Martinez. He looked to get a cross in as it took a slight deflection off Braeden Troyer’s foot. The ball chipped up in the air and Lewis Hilton tried to flick a header towards goal as Matt Turner is there to push it high and away from danger.

The Kickers return to City Stadium this Saturday to host Saint Louis FC and the annual Craft Beer Fest. The party starts at 5:30 p.m. with live music from the Folly, RVA food trucks, local breweries and over 30 craft beers on tap. Then the Kickers take the field against Saint Louis FC at 7:00 p.m. This match will be available live on the WTVR CBS 6.3 sub channel (Comcast 206, Verizon FiOS 466) and the USL Match Center. Tickets are on sale now at www.richmondkickers.com.

BOX SCORE

LINEUPS

Charlotte GK Kyle Renfro, Austin Yearwood, Bilal Duckett, Henry Kalungi, Joel Johnson, Jun Marques Davidson, Callum Ross (65’ – Lewis Hilton), David Estrada (76’ – David Spies), Alex Martinez, Enzo Martinez, Jorge Herrera (81’ – Casey Townsend)

Unused Substitutes: Kainoa Likewise, Jaime Siaj, Luke Waechter, Yann Ekra

Richmond GK Matt Turner, Braeden Troyer, Mallan Roberts, William Yomby, Jalen Robinson, Oscar Umar, Samuel Asante, Raul Gonzalez, Luiz Fernando (84’ – Matt Bolduc), Sunny Jane (54’ – Yudai Imura), Oliver Minatel (54’ – Anthony Grant)

Unused Substitutes: Marcel DeBellis, Conor Shanosky, Patrick McCann, Franck Tayou

STATISTICS

SCORING SUMMARY

CAUTIONS SUMMARY

EJECTIONS SUMMARY

MATCH INFORMATION

Referee: Christina Unkel

Assistant Referees: Benjamin Wooten, Ryan Graves

Fourth Official: Eric Barnes

Attendance: 1,384

Weather: Partly Cloudy, 85ºF