August 27, 2022 – United Soccer League One (USL1) – Greenville Triumph SC News Release
Greenville fell short to the visiting Northern Colorado Hailstorm on Saturday night, as two second half goals handed the Triumph a 2-0 loss. Struggling with a short bench due to heavy injuries, the Triumph weren’t able to create consistent scoring chances in a frustrating match for the league-Leading club.
Despite coming into the match with a short bench after three red card suspensions stemming from their last match, Northern Colorado dictated pace early, keeping the ball in the Triumph’s defensive half and testing a Greenville back line shorthanded itself due to injuries. Greenville keeper Paul Christensen rose to the occasion, who made multiple highlight-reel saves in the opening half to keep the match scoreless after forty-five minutes.
Greenville earned early chances in the second half, including a Peter Pearson header in the 58th minute that required a pinpoint save from the Hailstorm’s Johan Penaranda to keep the Triumph in search of the first goal. As the second half wore on, cracks began to show in Greenville’s defensive shape. Northern Colorado capitalized, striking in the 60th minute for his tenth goal of the League One season. Greenville continued to struggle, conceding a second goal in the 72nd minute to put the visitors up 2-0. Tensions rose between both squads as the match moved into extra time, but the result stood for NoCo as the final whistle blew.
“I think that we had too many players that didn’t stand up and didn’t lead tonight. We lost the midfield to be fair, and then we got caught really high at times and guys were getting behind us and threatening us,” said Head Coach John Harkes. “You know it’s a good learning experience for us and we’ve got to get better. It’s a chance for us to actually kind of get angry about it and ask like how much do we want to hold onto that playoff kind of form.”
Triumph SC is back at home next Saturday, September 3rd to face Forward Madison at 7:00 PM at Legacy Early College
Evan Lee, on the missing element in the loss: “I think tonight was disappointing from every aspect of the game. I think we hold ourselves to a higher standard, and we should. It probably wasn’t good enough – attacking, defending, second balls, tackling – they all weren’t there tonight and they came in and score two good goals, so we deserved it.”
Jonah Bigger, on making his senior team debut: “It means a lot to me. I wasn’t on Academy contract…