April 15, 2023 – United Soccer League One (USL1) – Richmond Kickers News Release
RICHMOND, Va. – – The Richmond Kickers (1-1-2, 5 pts) earned their third clean sheet of the season against unbeaten Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC (1-0-2, 5 pts) as over 5,000 fans gathered at City Stadium for the second consecutive USL League One match.
The Kickers continued their unbeaten streak against Hailstorm after posting a 2-0-1 record against the league sophomores last season.
Defense led the way for the hosts as the unit stood stout against the high-scoring offense from Fort Collins, Colo. Hailstorm was held to only placing two of their nine shots on target while the Kickers blocked four of the shots.
Zaca Moran, who was named the Keiter Man of the Match, led the way in the center of the park, winning five tackles and recovering possession eight times. He also finished with the third-highest passing accuracy on the team with 86.7 percent.
The Kickers were hard done not to have an opportunity at the penalty spot right before halftime. In the 42nd minute, Matthew Bentley had position to get the ball as NoCo’s Lucky Opara ran through the back of the forward, but it was determined that the contact was not enough, and a goal kick was awarded to the visitors.
The best scoring chance of the night for the Kickers came from the foot of defender Nathan Aune. In the 58th minute, Hailstorm was playing the ball out of the back before launching a ball to the center circle.
As the ball bounced towards midfield, Aune jumped above his defender to head the ball forward. He continued making a forward run and flicked the ball to Bentley who played a quick one-two to Aune as he split the defense and raced into the box with the ball. He fired off a wormburner with his right foot and it skidded across the grass which forced a kick save from the keeper.
The home team was spurred on by the crowd as it continued to push for a goal, and Bentley placed a stoppage-time shot on target. In the third minute of stoppage, Emiliano Terzaghi closed down the keeper trying to play the ball out of the back.
Rushed by Terzaghi, the keeper slipped as he launched the ball forward and it was quickly deflected by Moran to Bentley. The forward raced up the left wing before hitting a left-footed shot toward the near post that was saved by the recovering keeper.
Shortly after, the head official blew the final whistle as the Kickers finished their fourth match of the season with only two goals conceded on the…