Richmond Kickers 0, Northern Colorado Hailstorm 2
| RICHMOND KICKERS | 0 | |
| NORTHERN COLORADO HAILSTORM | 2 | 41’ Redon (Martinez), 50’ Hoard |
RICHMOND, Va. — The Richmond Kickers (2-5-3, 9 pts) fell 0-2 to Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC (3-2-2, 11 pts), Saturday night, in a hard-fought match at City Stadium.
On a scorching June night, the match started physical with the two teams vying for control.
James Vaughan found a ball just outside the box in the eighth minute that NoCo had attempted to clear but his shot through the mayhem slipped just wide.
The Hailstorm would go on the attack in the 14th minute, Isidro Martinez crossed a ball into the box that keeper Ryan Shellow stepped out to deflect away from the goalmouth. Vaughan got stuck into his tackle to clear the deflection away from danger.
Toni Pineda, making his first start of the season, carried the ball up the left wing through two defenders before driving to the endline. He quickly squared a dangerous cross into the six-yard box that forced a defensive deflection from the NoCo defense, sending the ball just out of reach of Zaca Moran.
Barnathan and Pineda played a one-two that opened up space for Pineda to race up the left wing in the 32nd minute. The forward inched toward a hesitant defensive marker before cutting the ball to Barnathan at the top of the box who quickly played the ball back to Pineda as he raced to the end line. Pineda played a quick cross that forced the keeper to come off his line and end the opportunity.
Pineda served as a conductor for the attack again in the 38th. He received the ball and ran up the middle left side before laying a ball off to Chandler O’Dwyer at the top of the box. The Englishman, who had his back to goal, quickly turned on the ball and scooped a curling shot toward the right upper 90 but the attempt went just wide of the post.
In the 41st minute, Hailstorm found the first goal of the night after Martinez found Bruno Rendón on the right wing. Rendón dribbled to the box and hit a left-footed shot that found the back of the net.
The visitors found their second in the 50th minute. Ethan Hoard picked up the ball on the left wing and carried it into the penalty area as Griffin Garnett shadowed him on defense. Hoard found enough space to get off a shot as Gui Franca closed him down. The ball appeared to take a slight deflection on its way to the goal as Shellow got a hand to the ball, but it had enough pace to sneak into the goal.
In the 76th minute, Moran found Fitch up the right wing who played a dangerous cross into the box for Adrian Billhardt but at the last second, a Hailstorm defender cleared it.
In the first minute of second-half stoppage, Nil Vinyals pushed the ball up the counterattack before ripping a low-driven shot that had pace and required a diving save from the keeper. And, at the last second in stoppage time, Hailstorm tried to make one last push on the counter counter but Shellow came out to meet Rendon near the top of the box and shut down the attempt to close the game.
The Roos have two home matches in the next 10 days. First, they will host Lionsbrigde FC for an exhibition match on June 26. Kickoff for the match is set for 7 p.m.
The Kickers will then host Henny Derby rivals Forward Madison FC during Red, White, and Roo Night on July 3rd. The match will be broadcast live on CBS Sports Network and will be the Kickers’ first national broadcast since 2018. Kickoff for the match is set for 8 p.m.
Stay up to date with all of the Kickers news at RichmondKickers.com and on social media on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
