Match Recap: Kickers Earn A Point Against League Leaders Union Omaha

RICHMOND, Va – The Richmond Kickers (3-3-3) earned a hard-fought point against league-leading Union Omaha (5-1-3) at City Stadium, Saturday night to keep its unbeaten streak for the month of June intact.

With the game underway, the first several minutes of the first half saw both teams holding their shape and Richmond maintaining more of the possession. Eight minutes into the match Union Omaha sent in a cross from the wing that was headed at goal, but Akira Fitzgerald made an acrobatic save to deflect the ball towards the touchline and allow the defense to clear it out of the danger area. 

Around the 15-minute-mark, the game opened up more and both sides began passing the ball around with more fluidity. Esteban Calvo made a last-ditch sliding tackle to block an attempted cross from Ethan Vanacore-Decker, then, in the 21st minute, Greg Hurst found space at the top of the Richmond box. Hurst managed to squeeze a shot out, but Fitzgerald handled it with ease. 

With seven minutes left in the first half, Richmond was awarded a free-kick just outside of the Omaha box. Ivan Magalhães stepped up to take the kick and tried to place it just underneath the wall to beat the keeper, but it took a deflection and rolled into Rashid Nuhu’s gloves. 

Union Omaha broke the stalemate in the 30th minute after Sousa played a cross into a dangerous area. The attacking run of an Omaha player towards the near post froze Fitzgerald on his line, and the ball managed to curl around into the backside of the net.

As the first half was winding down, Richmond sought an equalizer to close out the half holding more of the possession just outside of Omaha’s box. Jonathan Bolanos, Emiliano Terzaghi, and Matt Bolduc all created several opportunities to cut through their defense, but the first half would come to a close 0-1.

At the 56th minute, Luke Pavone sent in a cross from the wing aimed at Terzaghi who dove for the ball as it came across the goal but didn’t get enough distance to connect for a shot. For the remaining 30 minutes of the game, Richmond pushed towards the Union Omaha goal in search of the equalizer. 

In the 74th minute, Jonathan Bolanos was free on the left-wing and turned Sousa around, only to get fouled by Sousa and earn a free-kick to the left of the box. Zaca Moran stepped over the ball, placed it towards the far post, and Jalen Crisler leaped head and shoulders above the Union Omaha defense to send a header at the goal which took a deflection and rolled into the goal netting to tie the match. 

Omaha would make a late surge, and in the 88th minute, Akira Fitzgerald made a flying save to keep the scoreline at 1-1 and help see the Kickers earn the point at home.

The Kickers hit the road again to face regional rivals North Carolina FC on June 25. The Reds will look to earn their first points at NCFC since the 2018 season when the two sides faced off in USL Championship. Kickoff for the match is set for 7:00 p.m. ET.

Stay up to date with the latest news from the Kickers at www.richmondkickers.com and on the official team app.

BOX SCORE

LINEUPS

Richmond: Akira Fitzgerald, Juan Pablo Monticelli, Ivan Magalhães, Jalen Crisler, Esteban Calvo, Zaca Moran, Victor Falck, Nil Vinyals (67’ – Oalex Anderson), Matt Bolduc (45’ – Luke Pavone), Emiliano Terzaghi, Jonathan Bolanos (86’ – Hernan Gonzalez)

Unused Substitutes: Austin Causey, Nathan Aune, Cam Vickers, Chris Cole

Union Omaha: Rashid Nuhu, Damia Viader I Masdeu, Ferrety Sousa, Daltyn Knutson, Jake Crull, Tobias Otieno, Ethan Vanacore-Decker(79’ – N’For), Conor Doyle, John Scearce, Devin Boyce, Greg Hurst (88’ – Alihodzic)

Unused Substitutes: Austin Panchot, John Murphy, Blake Malone, Christian Molina, Kevin Piedrahita
 

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MATCH INFORMATION