WINDSOR, Colo. — Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC forward Irvin Parra ended the regular season in poetic fashion, scoring the team’s final goal of the 2023 regular season to cap a 3-1 win over Chattanooga Red Wolves SC.
“For him to score with pretty much the last kick of the game was special,” Hailstorm head coach Éamon Zayed said. “It was scrappiest goal we scored all year, the best kind of goal to describe Irvin.”
Parra, who missed several months this season as he fought and beat testicular cancer, took down a long ball from Stefan Lukic and had his first attempt blocked before firing past Chattanooga goalkeeper Carlos Avilez for his first goal of the season in the 93rd minute.
“There were so many mixed emotions going through my head and my heart,” Parra said. “I just want to thank my whole team.”
Parra’s goal and the Hailstorm win set them up for a first round playoff match with Forward Madison FC at 7 p.m. on October 21 at Future Legends Field.
“It’s almost like two different competitions, regular season and playoffs,” Zayed said.
The scoring against Chattanooga started when USL League One Golden Boot winner Trevor Amann got his second assist of the season, finding Marky Hernández who scored his seventh goal of the season to make it 1-0 in the 23rd minute.
Amann’s best impression of teammate Arthur Rogers continued in the 42nd minute when he squared a pass to Bruno Rendon, who slotted home his fifth goal of the season on a counter attack to make it 2-0 to Hailstorm.
“I try to help my team any way I can, usually it’s been goals but tonight it was assists,” Amann said.
Chattanooga pulled one back on a counter of their own in the 64th minute, with Ropapa Mensah providing the finish and denying Lalo Delgado both the USL League One Golden Glove and a record 14th clean sheet of the season. However, it did not prevent a Hailstorm win.
—
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.