The Richmond Kickers fell to the Charlotte Independence 1-0 on Saturday night at Ramblewood Soccer Complex.
The Richmond Kickers fell to the Charlotte Independence 1-0 on Saturday night at Ramblewood Soccer Complex. The only goal of the game came in the first half from Caleb Calvert following a corner kick.
Brian Ownby had the first opportunity of the game in the 13th minute. After receiving the ball just outside the box, Ownby fired a low shot towards John Berner’s goal, but the shot went just wide of the post.
Just three minutes later and Kickers again tried from distance. Yudai Imura ran across the field creating space and fired a low left footed shot towards the far post that just missed by inches.
Charlotte took the lead in the 30th minute from a corner kick. Enzo Martinez crossed the ball into the box finding Caleb Calvert making a near post run and he volleyed the ball first time past Horton.
Richmond almost responded immediately after the opening goal. Samuel Asante crossed the ball into the box, finding Brian Ownby, but his header wasn’t able to beat John Berner.
The Independence were given a chance to double their lead just four minutes later when Brian Brown was taken down in the box by Hugh Roberts. Brown stepped up to take the penalty and scored, but the referee called the goal back after a Charlotte player encroached on the kick. From the retake, Brown fired his shot wide, keeping the score at 1-0.
The second half saw the Kickers creating plenty of chances in the opening ten minutes.
The best chance came in the 55th minute when Fred Owusu Sekyere saw the keeper off his line and from just inside the Charlotte half, he would hit a long range strike that dipped over the keeper, but hit the crossbar and went out for a goal kick.
Brian Brown almost scored for Charlotte in the 70th minute. After creating space outside the box, Brown fired a left footed shot across goal, but ended up going wide of Horton’s post.
Charlie Horton came to rescue for the Kickers in the 75th minute. David Estrada struck the ball from the right side of the box that was heading for the far corner before Horton was able to dive down to his right and parry the ball away from the goal. Alex Lee then made a last second tackle to block the ball from Caleb Calvert, who was about to tap it into the empty net.
In the 90th minute, the Kickers almost found the equalizer. A ball was played in the box and found substitute, Romulo Peretta, at the far post who first time hit the ball towards goal but keeper, John Berner, made the crucial save.
The Kickers will be back at City Stadium on Saturday, June 25 as they host Family Fest, presented by Movin’ Mania and Bounce 2 the Moon, and the Bethlehem Steel FC. Tickets are on sale now at RichmondKickers.com.
Box Score First Half Second Half Final
Charlotte 1 0 1
Richmond 0 0 0
Lineups
Kickers: GK Charlie Horton, Alex Lee, Braeden Troyer, Hugh Roberts, William Yomby, Michael Callahan (Lucas Paulini – 62’), Samuel Asante (Romulo Peretta – 87), Yudai Imura, Fred Owusu Sekyere (Luiz Fernando – 62’), Brian Ownby (Sunny Jane – 84’), Anthony Grant (Jason Yeisley – 62’)
Independence: GK John Berner, Bilal Duckett, Patrick Slogic, Joel Johnson, Henry Kalungi, Jun Marques Davidson, Yann Ekra (Lewis Hilton – 76’), Enzo Martinez (Jack Metcalf – 81’) , Caleb Calvert (Jorge Herrera – 76’), Brian Brown, David Estrada (Paul Clowes – 87’)
