Photo courtesy of Brandon Campea/Spokane Velocity
SPOKANE, Wash. — Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC dropped their first match of the season, a 1-0 loss to Spokane Velocity FC on Saturday.
Despite out-shooting their opponents, Hailstorm could not find a breakthrough against a stingy Spokane defense.
“The guys worked hard,” Hailstorm assistant coach Colin Flakey said. “We knew it was going to be a tough game given we had an away game mid-week.”
Hailstorm started the match well, and had the ball in the back of the Spokane net in the 15th minute, but a very narrow offside call against forward Irvin Parra ruled it out.
“It was just an unfortunate result for us,” Parra said. “All we can do is look forward from here on out.”
In the 33rd minute, Spokane were awarded a penalty after a tackle from Hailstorm defender Johnny Fenwick in the penalty area, and Velocity captain Luis Gil converted from the spot, giving the home team the only goal of the night.
Despite controlling most of the second half, and having forward Billy King make his season debut off the bench, Hailstorm could not find the equalizer after the break and lost for the first time in 2024.
“It was obviously a disappointing result,” Hailstorm defender David Garcia said. “We didn’t play as planned and didn’t put ourselves in good spots to score.”
Northern Colorado now has 10 days off before its next match, a U.S. Open Cup Second Round tie against Colorado Rapids 2 at 7:30 p.m. April 3 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City. Colo.
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The home of Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC, 118-acre Future Legends Complex will feature 6,500-seat TicketSocket Park, 2,500-seat 4Rivers Equipment Stadium, 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.