Chattanooga Red Wolves SC 3, Richmond Kickers 1
| RICHMOND KICKERS | 1 | 26’ Terzaghi |
| CHATTANOOGA RED WOLVES SC | 3 | 1’ Mensah (Folla), 10’ Mensah (Ruiz), 90+8’ Marsh (Roberts) |
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — The Richmond Kickers (3-5-3, 12 pts) fell on the road at Chattanooga Red Wolves SC (4-5-1, 13 pts), Saturday night.
The hosts opened the scoring in the first minute of play. Chattanooga’s Leo Folla played a long cross up to Ropapa Mensah in the box who got his head to the ball as Pablo Jara attempted to punch it away from danger.
They doubled their lead in the 10th minute after Ricky Ruiz found Mensah with a cross at the top of the box. The forward turned on the ball and hit a shot with pace to find the back of the net.
Following the initial flurry from Chattanooga, the Kickers owned the majority of the offensive chances in the half, holding the hosts shotless for over 20 minutes while taking five of their own.
Nil Vinyals forced a turnover deep in Chattanooga territory in the 13th minute. Adrian Billhardt quickly gathered the loose ball and ripped a curling shot from outside the box that forced a diving fingertip save from Chattanooga’s goalkeeper.
Seven minutes later, Billhardt did everything to keep the ball in play at Chattanooga’s left corner flag before finding Vinyals with a short pass. The midfielder carried the ball inside before playing a curling cross toward the back post which found Toni Pineda but his header went wide.
The Kickers halved the lead in the 26th minute as Emiliano Terzaghi scored his second goal in as many starts.
Billhardt carried the ball up the left side of the penalty area to the end line and sent in a low cross to the near post that the goalkeeper deflected. Terzaghi quickly gathered the ball, and with his back to goal to protect the ball from the closing defenders, hit a backheel shot to find the back of the net.
The Kickers pressed for an equalizer before the end of the half.
In the 35th minute, Maxi Schenfeld received the ball at the top of the box and fired a low cross into the center of the box as Terzaghi stuck his foot out and redirected the ball but his attempt went wide of the near post.
In the sixth minute of first-half stoppage, the Kickers had a dangerous free-kick opportunity to nearly level the scoreline. Vinyals played a lofted cross to Barnathan who got in front of his marker and glanced a header toward the upper right corner which forced a last-second save from the Chattanooga keeper.
In the 63rd minute, Schenfeld carried the ball to the end line and cut the ball back to the middle of the penalty area to Pineda. The forward one-timed his shot but the attempt had too much power and went over the crossbar.
Vinyals forced a save in the 71st minute after combining with Billhardt to set up an opportunity just outside of the penalty area.
Jara made a diving save in the 72nd minute to keep the status quo on the scoreline after Pedro Hernandez hit a shot from distance.
It appeared as though the Kickers found their equalizer in the 82nd minute. Vinyals hit an inswinging corner that dropped into the six-yard box and ricocheted off Chattanooga’s Declan Watters and toward the goal. Chattanooga’s goalkeeper got his hand to the ball as it was crossing the goal line but it was ruled that the ball didn’t fully cross the threshold for a goal.
Chattanooga would find the back of the net in the eighth minute of second-half stoppage time to seal the result. After a forced turnover, Chevone Marsh received the ball in the Kickers’ penalty area. As Jara closed him down, he got a shot off that found the inside of the far side netting.
The Kickers return to City Stadium to host USL Jägermeister Cup East Group leaders Greenville Triumph SC in Round 6 of the tournament on Saturday, July 20. Kickoff for the match is set for 7:00 p.m. The team is hosting The Theme Night is Beach presented by Richmond Times-Dispatch and the first 720 fans will receive a complimentary Kickeroo-themed beach towel.
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