GREENVILLE S.C. — A first-half brace from forward Trevor Amann was all Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC needed to come away with a 2-0 win at Greenville Triumph SC on Friday.
The victory moved Hailstorm back into second place in the USL League One table, tied with Union Omaha and one point behind North Carolina FC, who drew 1-1 on Friday. They also secured that they will host a playoff match at Future Legends Field next month.
“We have to take care of business on our end and we did that tonight. I thought it was a really, really good performance and obviously a great result,” Hailstorm head coach Éamon Zayed said.
Hailstorm broke a more than four-hour goal drought in the 27th minute when Danny Robles played an inch-perfect through ball to Amann who hit it first time from outside the box for his 21st goal of the season, extending his USL League One single-season record, giving his team a 1-0 lead.
“I’m just going out there every night trying to do my job and help the team get more wins,” Amann said.
Less than five minutes later Hailstorm doubled their lead when an Arthur Rogers corner kick found the head of Amann who nodded home for the 2-0 advantage. Rogers’ 11th assist of 2023 tied him for the league’s single-season record.
“Those things are impossible without my teammates,” Rogers said. “So big thank you to them and the coaches for putting me in positions to succeed.”
The assist was Rogers’ 20th in a Hailstorm shirt, extending both his club and league records for career assists.
“Arthur is obviously a player who has a lot of quality,” Zayed said. “He showed it last season and he’s shown it this season.”
Hailstorm saw out a professional defensive performance in the second half, keeping the clean sheet and allowing just three shots on target despite going down to 10 men when Marky Hernández received his second yellow card in the 75th minute. Anchoring the defense was Hailstorm captain Rob Cornwall, who won four duels, two tackles, and completed 35 of 42 passes.
“It was a good win, we were solid. That’s what we needed,” Cornwall said.
Hailstorm will look for their second-straight win when they return to Future Legends Field to face Forward Madison FC at 7 p.m. Mountain time on October 7.
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The home of Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC, 118-acre Future Legends Complex, will feature 6,500-seat TicketSmarter Stadium, 2,500-seat Future Legends Field, multiple baseball diamonds, multi-purpose fields, an indoor sports arena, lodging, and retail; and will host guests for major sports leagues, tournaments, events and more.
More information is available at HailstormFC.com and FutureLegendsComplex.com.