Lexington SC 2, Richmond Kickers 2
RICHMOND KICKERS | 2 | 7′ Vinyals (Gomiero), 16′ Vinyals |
LEXINGTON SC | 2 | 10′ Smart (Penalty), 68′ Fitch (Own Goal) |
GEORGETOWN, Ky. — The Richmond Kickers (6-6-8, 26 pts) shared the points on the road at Lexington SC (4-9-6, 18 pts), Saturday night, following a 2-2 result that saw Nil Vinyals record his first brace of the season.
Vinyals drew first blood in the 7th minute.
João Gomiero had the ball on the left wing near the backline before lofting a ball back towards Vinyals. The midfielder was in the process of controlling the ball as Don Smart clattered through Vinyals but no call was made. Instead, Vinyals quickly gathered himself and the ball and drove in the direction of the goal, shaking the incoming defender Kaelon Fox, and he shot a low-driven ball that skipped on the ground and beat the keeper.
The hosts had the opportunity to equalize minutes later from the penalty spot after Akira Fitzgerald was called for a foul in the box when the keeper punched out a loose ball and Nico Brown jumped into the contact.
Smart converted the attempt to knot up the scoreline in the 10th minute.
In the 15th minute, Emiliano Terzaghi was brought down just outside of the penalty area while going for a loose ball resulting in a free kick for Richmond. Vinyals stepped up to the dead ball and fired an arching attempt that beat the keeper with pace and smashed into the upper right-hand corner of the goal to take the lead back.
Fitzgerald kept the lead intact for the Kickers in the 28th minute with a point-blank reaction save. Lexington took a short corner before whipping a ball toward the far post that was then headed back across the goalmouth. Ates Diouf, feet from the goal, hit a volley on target as Fitzgerald shifted and made a save with his feet.
Lexington found the final goal of the match in the 68th minute. Khalid Balogun received the ball on the right wing and played a low cross into the Kickers’ penalty area. The ball missed its intended target of Seo-In Kim who was crashing into the box and caught the leg of Simon Fitch near the far post and ricocheted into the net.
Richmond had a chance to take back the lead in the closing seconds of second-half stoppage time. Michael Hornsby played an in-swinging cross that found the head of Nathan Aune but the attempt was blocked by his marker and cleared out of the box as the referee blew the final whistle.
The Kickers return home next Saturday, August 5th to host Forward Madison FC on Sports Fore RVA night presented by the First Tee – Greater Richmond. The doors at City Stadium are set to open at 5:45 p.m. ahead of the 7 p.m. kickoff. Tickets are available at richmondkickers.com/tickets.
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