Chattanooga Red Wolves SC 1, Richmond Kickers 0
| RICHMOND KICKERS (1-1-1, 4 points) | 0 | |
| CHATTANOOGA RED WOLVES SC (2-0-1, 7 points) | 1 | 50’ Espinoza (Mentzingen) |
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — (Saturday, April 16, 2022) — The Richmond Kickers (1-1-1) suffered their first defeat of the 2022 season at Chattanooga Red Wolves SC (2-0-1), Saturday night, with an early second-half goal from the hosts proving to be the difference.
The first half of the match started with the hosts on the front foot with the Kickers absorbing pressure and breaking on the counter. In the 12th minute, it appeared as though the Kickers had finally punished the Red Wolves.
Emiliano Terzaghi received the ball out to the right wing, and he crossed the ball near the backline and into the six-yard box. Matthew Bentley went up for the ball alongside the goalkeeper and they collided in mid-air as the ball ricocheted into the net. However, it was ruled that an infraction from Bentley occurred during the collision and the goal was disallowed.
As the first half continued, the Kickers started to impose their will and would finish the half winning the possession battle. In the 44th minute, again, it appeared that the Kickers drew first blood. Nathan Aune launched a throw-in to the box that took a deflection and fell to Matt Bolduc who fought for the ball alongside a Chattanooga defender. The defender went down as Bolduc won the ball and fired it into the net. However, it would be called off after Bolduc was ruled to be at fault for the Chattanooga defender going down.
The half ended shortly after with the scoreline still level with the Kickers holding the edge in the stats department.
Chattanooga would break the deadlock five minutes into the second half. The Red Wolves cycled the ball from right to left and Rafael Mentzingen played a low bouncing cross from the left wing into the danger area. Moe Espinoza crashed into the space from the right side and hit a low volley back across the goalmouth. Akira Fitzgerald dived to make the save but the ball was hit with too much pace and found the back of the net.
As the Kickers pressed for an equalizer, the introduction of Leonardo Baima in the 65th minute nearly turned the game on its head. The forward was effective at creating space on the left wing and playing early crosses into the box. Twice, Baima nearly connected with Bentley as Baima laced low-driven crosses into the box and Bentley fully extended his body out to try and get on the end and tap the ball into the net.
Unfortunately for the Roos, Chattanooga bunkered in and worked hard to run down the clock. The Kickers had one final chance on the final kick of the match after drawing a foul in Chattanooga’s end. Baima ripped a left-footed kick to the box that Vincenzo Candela got his head on and deflected towards goal. However, the ball would cruelly drift wide of the right post and the head official blew their whistle to end the match.
The Kickers return to City Stadium on Wednesday, April 20 to host North Carolina Fusion U23 in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup Third Round. Kickers+ fans can save up to 75 percent off tickets for the match, and tickets are on sale now.
Stay up to date with the latest news from the Kickers at RichmondKickers.com and on the official team app.
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BOX SCORE
| First Half | Second Half | Final | |
| Richmond | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chattanooga | 0 | 1 | 1 |
LINEUPS
Richmond: Akira Fitzgerald, Stuart Ritchie, Nathan Aune, Jalen Crisler (75’ Vincenzo Candela), Stephen Payne, Zaca Moran, Dakota Barnathan, Nil Vinyals, Matt Bolduc (65’ Leonardo Baima), Emiliano Terzaghi, Matthew Bentley (87’ David Olsen)
Unused Substitutes: Will Palmquist, Chris Cole, Simon Fitch, Christian Molina
Chattanooga: C. Avilez, A. Lombardi, J. Luna, S. Capozucchi, D. Benton, R. Mentzingen (78’ P. Hernandez), J. Carrera, J. Cartagena (62’ A. Hernández), E. Espinoza (78’ N. Cardona), J. Villalobos (78’ J. Páez), B. Bement (62’ D. Texeira)Unused Substitutes: T. Saunders, Ualefi
STATISTICS
| Shots | Saves | Fouls | Corners | |
| Richmond | 8 | 3 | 14 | 4 |
| Chattanooga | 15 | 0 | 15 | 2 |
SCORING SUMMARY
| 50’ | CHA | Espinoza (Mentzingen) |
CAUTIONS SUMMARY
| 26’ 75’ 83’ 84’ 91’ 95’ 96’ | CHA CHA CHA RIC RIC RIC CHA | Capozucchi Espinoza Avilez Moran Aune Terzaghi A. Hernández |
EJECTIONS SUMMARY
None.
MATCH INFORMATION
Referee: Joshua Belk
Assistant Referee: Brian Marshall, Chris Schurfranz
Fourth Official: Aleksander Zhelyazkov
Attendance: 2236
Weather: Cloudy, 73 ºF
