Spokane Velocity 2, Richmond Kickers 1
| RICHMOND KICKERS | 1 | 20′ Billhardt |
| SPOKANE VELOCITY | 2 | 4′ Métanire (Denton), 15′ Longmire (Gil) |
SPOKANE, Wash. — The Richmond Kickers (0-1-0, 0 pts) fell 2-1, Saturday night, on the road at league debutants, Spokane Velocity (1-1-0, 3 pts) in the host’s inaugural home opener at ONE Stadium.
Multiple Kickers made their debuts or first starts for the club. 17-year-old Richmond native Griffin Garnett started in his Kickers debut alongside veteran newcomers Pablo Jara, Adrian Billhardt, Maxi Schenfeld, and James Vaughan. Nicholas Simmonds made his first start for the club after the 17-year-old made a number of appearances during the 2023 season.
The hosts earned an early lead in the fourth minute. Forward Romain Métanire crossed a lofted ball that drifted in line with the far post and ricocheted into the net.
Nil Vinyals had an opportunity to level the score eight minutes later. The midfielder took over possession and drove the ball into Spokane’s final third, beating his marker and finding space as the forwards drifted centrally to open more space. Vinyals dribbled the ball into the box and fired a left-footed shot that forced a save from keeper Carlos Merancio.
Spokane doubled their lead in the 15th minute from the corner. Luis Gil sent in a ball from the left corner to the far edge of the six-yard box. Ahmed Longmire got up to the ball and headed the ball into the net.
Five minutes later, Billhardt would cut Spokane’s lead in half. Schenfeld launched a throw-in into the penalty area to Simmonds who headed the ball down and it clattered off a Spokane defender. Billhardt caught the deflection with a half-volley and hit the ball which rocketed past Merancio and rattled the back of the net.
The first half ended without another goal, but the Roos were on the hunt for an equalizer, sporting a 0.53 xG to Spokane’s 0.13 xG. Billhardt was the driver of the offense, along with his goal, he led the team with three touches inside Spokane’s penalty area and tied for the team lead in shots taken.
Richmond pressed on through the second half in search of their equalizer while holding the hosts to only one more shot on target.
In the fifth minute of second-half stoppage, Schenfeld was inches from delivering it. Chris Cole sent a long throw-in into the penalty area that was cleared out to the top of the box to the waiting feet of Schenfeld. He took a touch before catching the ball with a left-footed strike that beat the goalkeeper but caught the crossbar and deflected away.
Garnett shined in his first-team debut, earning the nod as Keiter CPA Player of the Match after playing the full 90 minutes and stoppage time, completing nearly 91 percent of his passes and winning 57 percent of his total duels and 50 percent of his aerial duels.
Toni Pineda earned his professional debut when he came into the match as a substitute in the 80th minute.
The Kickers return home to host a Lamar Hunt US Open Cup First Round match against Christos FC on Wednesday, March 20 at 6:30 p.m. Then the Kickers are set to host their USL League One regular season home opener on Saturday, March 23 when they host South Georgia Tormenta FC. Kickoff for the match against the Ibises is set for 6 p.m. Tickets for both matches are available at richmondkickers.com/tickets.
Season Tickets are still available for the 2024 season! Fans can unlock massive savings, access to exclusive events, a complimentary CityStadium+ Membership and so much more. Be a part of every out-of-your-seat experience in 2024 with Season Tickets! Additional information can be found at richmondkickers.com/seasontickets.
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