Recap: Charleston 1, Richmond 0

RICHMOND, VA — (Saturday, September 16, 2017) — The Richmond Kickers (6-14-8) could not capitalize on a man advantage for a majority of the match, falling on the road to long-time rivals Charleston Battery (12-7-8) at MUSC Health Stadium Saturday night. Heviel Cordovés came on in the second half and put away a corner kick in the 84th minute from Maikel Chang to give the home side all three points.

Charleston looked to get on the board early through leading goalscorer Romario Williams in the first minute of the match. Ataulla Guerra received the ball right at the midline and turned to play the ball over the top of the Kickers backline as Williams was making a run. Pressured by Mallan Roberts and with Travis Worra coming off his line, Williams tried a shot to his left as Worra got a foot to the ball and clear it away for a corner kick.

Ataulla Guerra nearly found the opener in the 9th minute. Kotaro Higashi fed the ball through to Guerra in the Richmond box. Guerra tried to pull the ball back to the right as Worra was able to get a hand to the ball. Oscar Umar came back to prevent the ball from going over the end line and clear it away from danger.

The crossbar came to the rescue for the Kickers on two occasions, both shots by Romario Williams. The first came in the 15th minute, as Guerra played a simple pass slightly to his right ahead to Williams. He took two touches and launched a shot from the top of the Kickers box and pinged it off the crossbar. Worra came out to grab the ball before the Battery could get another chance. Williams found the crossbar again in the 18th minute. This time Maikel Chang controlled the ball out wide right with Oscar Umar preventing Chang from making a turn. Chang laid the ball off for Williams as he cut towards goal, letting off a shot that beat Worra and hit the crossbar. Higashi met the ball off the deflection with a header that Worra was able to stop from point blank range.

The momentum shifted in the 37th minute as Romario Williams was sent off. Taylor Mueller from the right side of the field looked to shift sides of the field playing a long ball over to Williams on the left side just into the Richmond end of the field. Alex Lee to beat him to the ball and he played the ball back to Worra. Williams kicked out at Lee as he played it back and the referee went straight for a red card.

Richmond would finally get a chance in the 42nd minute. Yudai Imura on the left side of the field saw Alex Lee making a run into the Charleston box. Imura picked out Lee and he got a head to the ball as the shot went wide and away from goal.

With the man advantage, the Kickers would get their first real opportunity on goal in the 62nd minute. From a corner on the left side, Matt Bolduc sent the ball past everyone to Alex Lee on the far side. Lee played in a cross that would also get through everyone inside the Battery box and back to Bolduc. He pulled the ball back just outside the box. He turned and had a go on goal as it went right to the hands of the substitute keeper Odisnel Cooper.

Cooper had to come up big to prevent a chance for Mikey Minutillo in the 69th minute. Luiz Fernando got to the end line on the left side and powered a cross in looking for Minutillo making a run towards goal. Cooper came off his line at just the right moment to punch the ball away allowing for Skylar Thomas to clear away.

Charleston would get the break they were looking for in the 84th minute. Maikel Chang won a corner kick and elected to take the kick from the right side. He sent in a low, direct pass towards the near post as second half substitute Heviel Cordovés made a quick run at the near post and put it past Worra to find the back of the net.

Mallan Roberts came close to finding an equalizer into the third minute of stoppage time. Oscar Umar controlled the ball on the right side of the field after several chances by the Kickers were cleared away. Umar sent the ball into the box and found Roberts for a header that he sent just over the goal.

The Kickers will return to City Stadium September 23 to host the Rochester Rhinos and Oktoberfest, presented by the Hof. The party starts at 5:30 p.m. with authentic German oompah music by The Low ‘n’ Brows, seasonal craft beers on tap and an all-inclusive Oktoberfest package for just $22 ($18 for Season Ticket Holders). The match will be available to stream online through the USL Match Center. Tickets and more information can be found at www.richmondkickers.com.

BOX SCORE

LINEUPS

Charleston GK Alec Kann (45’ – Odisnel Cooper), Skylar Thomas, Taylor Mueller, Forrest Lasso, Jarad van Schaik, Kotaro Higashi, Justin Portillo, Brian Tah Anunga (90’ – Nicholas Rittmeyer), Maikel Chang, Ataulla Guerra (70’ – Heviel Cordovés), Romario Williams

Unused Substitutes: Ryan Arambula, Neveal Hackshaw, Ricky Garbanzo, Laurent Kissiedou

Richmond GK Travis Worra, Alex Lee, Mallan Roberts, William Yomby, Braeden Troyer, Oscar Umar, Yudai Imura, Matt Bolduc, Luiz Fernando (80’ – Fred Owusu Sekyere), Sunny Jane (52’ – Jackson Eskay), Mikey Minutillo (76’ – Franck Tayou)

Unused Substitutes: Marcel DeBellis, Evan Lee, Patrick McCann, Raul Gonzalez

STATISTICS

SCORING SUMMARY

CAUTIONS SUMMARY

EJECTIONS SUMMARY

MATCH INFORMATION

Referee: Kevin Broadley

Assistant Referees: Dallas Rosier, Brian Marshall

Fourth Official: Michael Catlett

Attendance: 2,228

Weather: Partly Cloudy, 80 ºF