April 6, 2024 – United Soccer League One (USL1)
Richmond Kickers News Release
Richmond Kickers’ Chandler O’Dwyer on the filed
(Richmond Kickers)
RICHMOND, Va. – – The Richmond Kickers (1-2-0, 3 pts) earned a come-from-behind victory over Central Valley Fuego FC (1-3-0, 3 pts) on Saturday night. Chandler O’Dwyer opened the scoring for the Kickers and ultimately earned a brace with the gamewinner while Adrian Billhardt netted an equalizer in the middle.
Down 2-1 after the 58th minute, the Kickers rallied to earn their first league win of the 2024 season.
Billhardt started an offensive push off a Central Valley free kick in the 60th minute. Billhardt sent a ball from the half-line to Nil Vinyals in the center of the pitch who dribbled up to just outside the top of the 18. After his long pass, Billhardt took off for the box where Vinyals sent a ball through to him. Billhardt ripped it into the back of the net and tied the score again at two a piece.
O’Dwyer would take the lead back for the Kickers in the 73rd minute, claiming his second goal on the night. Billhardt dribbled into the box and took a shot that bounced off a defender to the feet of Vinyals. He took a shot of his own that was blocked as well but O’Dwyer caught the rebound on the volley and sent the ball into the net before the keeper could even get set.
The Kickers would then shut down Fuego’s chances of an equalizer, outlasting the visitors through eight minutes of stoppage time to see out the three points.
Richmond started on the front foot against a feisty Fuego side.
In the ninth minute, Billhardt found Simon Fitch up the seam who took a hard foul to earn a free kick from the top corner of the 18. A beautifully bending shot from Maxi Schenfeld curved right for the far bottom corner but the Fuego keeper made a last-second save.
In the 17th minute, Arthur Bosua broke through the line but again Fuego was able to get a hand in front of the ball. The Central Valley backline sent the rebound of Avilez’s save out of bounds for a Billhardt throw-in. Billhardt led Fitch to the end line with the ball and Fitch then crossed the ball back into the box. Chandler O’Dwyer timed a run to the top of the six perfectly and used his head to make the score 1-0 in the 18th minute.
Central Valley found the back of the net themselves in the 31st minute, forcing a turnover in the final third and beating the keeper one-on-one.
After the half, the Kickers kept knocking and first found a chance when James Vaughan crossed the ball…