KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Despite holding their opponents without a shot until the 70th minute, Northern Colorado Hailstorm dropped a 1-0 defeat to One Knoxville SC on Saturday.
It took until the 94th minute for Knoxville to record a shot on target, and that shot turned out to be only goal of the game from Rudolfo Castro Jr.
“It’s a hard pill to swallow, but we have to keep going,” Hailstorm goalkeeper Lalo Delgado said.
Hailstorm’s loss was despite them having more than 60 percent of the possession and out-shooting Knoxville 15-to-4.
“Performance is one thing, but results are what matter at the end of the day,” Hailstorm head coach Éamon Zayed said.
It was a quiet first half with just four shots before the break, all of them from Hailstorm. Jackson Dietrich and Haruki Yamazaki were able to put efforts on target, but Knoxville keeper Sean Lewis saved both.
Hailstorm did have the ball in the back of the net via Bruno Rendon in the second minute, but it was ruled out for offside.
“I thought we were the better team for sure, but that’s the game and we just have to move forward and win the next one,” Hailstorm midfielder Jackson Dietrich said.
The match turned in the 79th minute when Rendon received a red card for making contact above the shoulders of Knoxville’s Gio Calixtro.
“Another tough result this week, we’ll keep working,” Zayed said.
The work will continue at home on Friday night when Hailstorm welcome Union Omaha to 4Rivers Equipment Stadium for a USL Jägermeister Cup match.
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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.