Northern Colorado fall to the Kickers in their Severance home opener.
SEVERANCE, Colo. – It was the last new venue of the season for Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC as they played host to the Richmond Kickers. Present in the starting XI for Northern Colorado was Wolfgang Prentice. The loanee from Oakland Roots in the USL Championship, made his Hailstorm debut in the match. “It’s good to be here, I like the atmosphere, the fans are fun, it was a cool vibe. Fun to be out there,” said Prentice.
In the match the Hailstorm established much of the possession in the first 20 minutes establishing control of the game. With the Hailstorm having two real chances back-to-back courtesy of Trevor Amann. First on a corner kick Amann was able to test keeper Akira Fitzgerald, but the shot was right into the keeper’s body. Moments later Amann found another chance and seemed to have rolled one into the corner of the goal, only to bounce off the post and back into play.
Richmond was able to catch Northern Colorado out with a counter-attack in the 32nd minute. Some shot passing led to a through ball for Emiliano Terzaghi. Terzaghi decided to take a chance from distance and caught Hailstorm keeper Johan Penaranda out with a shot from 38 yards. The ball took a bounce and beat Penaranda to put Richmond in front 1-0.
Amann nearly brought Northern Colorado back into the match just out of halftime. Firing a shot on target, again right at Fitzgerald, this time with enough force that it had to just be deflected and nearly resulted in another chance being gifted to the Hailstorm.
In the 77th minute it was Irvin Parra’s turn to test Fitzgerald. Getting the ball on a pass from Stefan Lukic, Parra turned, took a touch, and took aim at the lower left corner of the goal. Fitzgerald read it and palmed it away, keeping Richmond up by one.
Late on Northern Colorado nearly found the equalizer to steal a point at the death. In the 84th minute Arthur Rogers served up a cross that Lachlan McLean got his head on to. The shot beat Fitzgerald, but the crossbar was the one to deny McLean’s opportunity.
“Performances have been good recently, but goals win games. Doesn’t matter how well you play, you have to put the ball in the back of the net,” said head coach Éamon Zayed. “Goals change games and if you can’t put the ball in the back of the net, you leave yourself open to drop points.”
The 118-acre Future Legends Complex will feature two stadiums, multiple baseball diamonds and multi-purpose fields, an indoor sports arena, lodging, and retail; and will host guests for major sports tournaments, events, leagues, and more.