Match Recap: Richmond Completes Comeback Win Over North Texas at City Stadium

RICHMOND, Va.  — The Richmond Kickers (4-4-3) earned a comeback 3-2 win over MLS affiliate North Texas SC (3-4-3), Saturday night at City Stadium. Emiliano Terzaghi scored his second brace of the season while Jonathan Bolanos netted the game-winner late in the second half.

With the first half underway, Richmond began the match playing a high-pressing line with bags of energy. At the 11-minute mark, North Texas got a look at the goal, but Akira Fitzgerald deflected the shot away into safety. Shortly after, North Texas rushed down the left-wing and took a shot at Fitzgerald from the goal line but it was blocked away for a corner. North Texas would find its breakthrough in the 26th minute after connecting a combination of passes leading to a near-post goal by Kazu.

Richmond would answer back quickly. The Reds played their way from the defense all the way up to the North Texas final third where Victor Falck was able to drill a shot at goalkeeper Colin Shutler who deflected the ball out. Richmond recycled out wide to Juan Pablo Monticelli who crossed the ball into Terzaghi. The reigning league MVP gracefully awaited the ball and performed an incredible back-heel flick into North Texas’ goal to give the Red Army a world-class goal to watch and to bring the scoreline to 1-1. 

However, North Texas would retake the lead shortly after. Almaguer found some free space following a throw-in in Richmond territory and let loose a shot that would find the back of the net, leaving the scoreline 1-2 at the end of the half.

The Reds made halftime adjustments and stormed ahead to find another equalizer. Around the 50-minute mark, Richmond won a corner and, after an attempt to play Terzaghi in the box, Terzaghi was fouled by a North Texas defender and awarded a penalty. The Argentine stepped up to the penalty mark and confidently drilled his shot into the bottom left-hand corner to convert for his second goal of the match. With the scoreline level at 2-2, both teams looked to regain leverage for the remainder of the half.

After a good start to the half for Richmond, the team was playing on the front foot and saw a few great attacks at the goal from Bolanos down the left-wing. After several runs at the North Texas goal, Bolanos fired a lofted shot floating it over several North Texas defenders, beating the goalkeeper, and hitting the far-post to bounce back into the goal, bringing the scoreline to 3-2 with Richmond in the lead. 

Richmond saw out the remainder of the match to seal the first win over North Texas since both teams joined USL League One in 2019. However, the team would have to do it down a man after midfielder Zaca Moran was issued a second yellow card turning into a red card late.

Richmond returns to City Stadium to face Fort Lauderdale CF on July 17. The Reds already played the MLS affiliate earlier in the season on the road and will look to get a win back at their home field. Kickoff for the match is set for 6:30 p.m.

Stay up to date with the latest news from the Kickers at www.richmondkickers.com and on the official team app.

BOX SCORE

LINEUPS

Richmond: Akira Fitzgerald, Juan Pablo Monticelli (45’ – Matt Bolduc), Ivan Magalhães, Jalen Crisler, Nathan Aune(45’ – Jonathan Bolanos), Zaca Moran, Victor Falck, Nil Vinyals, Chris Cole (69’ – Stanley Alves), Emiliano Terzaghi (87’ – Hernan González), Luke Pavone

Unused Substitutes: Austin Causey, Oalex Anderson, Cam Vickers

North Texas SC: Colin Shutler, Caiser Gomes, Collin Smith (86’ – Thibaut Jacquel), Rio Ramirez, Edwin Munjoma, Blaine Ferri (75’ – Michael Maldonado), Jorge Almaguer, Dominick Hernandez (75’ – Hope Avayevu), Bernard Kamungo, Kazu (65’ – Derek Waldeck), Gibran Rayo (64’ – Alex Bruce)

Unused Substitutes: Richard Sánchez

STATISTICS

SCORING SUMMARY

CAUTIONS SUMMARY

EJECTIONS SUMMARY

88’     RIC    Moran