Richmond Kickers 0, South Georgia Tormenta FC 1
| RICHMOND KICKERS | 0 | |
| SOUTH GEORGIA TORMENTA FC | 1 | 70′ Kazaiah Sterling (penalty) |
RICHMOND, Va. — The Richmond Kickers (6-14-10, 28 pts) fell Saturday evening, to South Georgia Tormenta FC (12-5-13, 41 pts) in their penultimate home match. After tonight’s result, the teams split the season series 1-1-1.
The match had quick back and forth early and after a Tormenta set piece, the Kickers found a way to push the matter within the first 10 minutes. João Gomiero broke upfield through the midfield. Moving with midfielder Nil Vinyals, the pair found defender Michael Hornsby and striker Matthew Bentley in the box. The keeper dove on the bouncing cross though and ended the attempt. Shortly after, a corner from Hornsby was headed out to midfielder Justin Sukow who found defender Nathan Aune in the box but Aune’s strike went just wide of the left post.
In the 19th minute, Tormenta’s Preston Kilwien headed the ball to Daltyn Knutson who sent a speedy attempt on the ground to the far left post. Richmond keeper Will Palmquist, who put in a Keiter Man of the Match performance, stayed locked in on the ball and jumped on it just before it crossed the goal line to make the save.
Through the rest of the half, the Kickers continued to play staunch defense. Palmquist made two more saves, ultimately sending the ball the other way. Midfielder Zaca Moran and defender Beckett Howell made their presence known by keeping the ball out of the back of the net. Moran won seven of the nine duels he encountered and Howell won four of eight. Twice the backline found Sukow on the run and the midfielder found space to get a shot off but couldn’t quite get the ball in the back of the net.
In the 51st minute, Nil Vinyals dribbled across midfield to set up a Richmond attack. After several passes, Vinyals again found Hornsby through but the attempt from the left winger slid across the frame of the goal and just wide of the right post. Ten minutes later, Tormenta moved in with an attack of their own in the 61st. South Georgia’s Kazaiah Sterling sent a strike into the bottom left corner but Palmquist completely shut down the attempt, stretching all the way to the far post to make the save.
Gomeiro nearly answered in transition, pulling a shot from the top of the box that glanced just left of the goal.
In the 69th minute, Palmquist made two more, back-to-back saves to keep Tormenta off the board.
In the 70th minute, Tormenta found the back of the net from the penalty spot to open the scoring. Bentley pushed for an equalizer shortly after, ripping a shot in transition that shook the crossbar.
The last 20 minutes of the match saw striker Nicholas Simmonds and midfielder Ethan Vanacore-Decker on the pitch. Tonight’s match marked the 2023 debut for Vanacore-Decker, returning from a year-long injury he suffered last fall. Landon Johnson and Jake Mecham also stepped on the pitch in the 80th and 83rd minutes, respectively.
In the 84th minute, Palmquist made another wide left corner save to keep the deficit to one.
The Kickers saw one more opportunity in the last few minutes of the match. A free kick from Vinyals was redirected toward the goal but Tormenta’s keeper swiped it off the line and away from the goal.
The Kickers’ next match will be this Friday on the road against One Knoxville SC with kickoff at 7:30 p.m. in Regal Soccer Stadium. The Kickers will return for their next home match on Saturday, Oct. 14th to host Central Valley Fuego FC during Fan Appreciation Night presented by FeedMore. The doors at City Stadium are set to open at 4:45 p.m. ahead of the 6 p.m. kickoff. Tickets are available at richmondkickers.com/tickets.
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