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The Richmond Kickers outlasted the Charlotte Eagles 2-1 tonight at City Stadium, in a game that was a tale of two halves.
The first half was a show of the Kickers dominance in possession, controlling the ball for long stretches at a time. The first goal came off of such a long string of possession, with Alex Lee eventually getting the ball in the attacking third. After cutting inside towards the box, he centered the ball to George Davis IV at the top of the D. Davis IV just ripped a shot from 25 yards that froze everyone, including the Alec Kann, as it went in.
The second goal was all Samuel Asante, even if Luke Vercollone scored it. Asante chipped the ball past his defender, and then split the defense with a pass to Luke Vercollone. Vercollone had an easy task to blast the ball past the keeper, and the Kickers were then up 2-0.
Also in the first half, however, was an injury to Jason Yeisley, who recently spent nine months recovering from post-concussion symptoms. He was cleaned out by the goalkeeper in the middle of the second half, and briefly came off of the field. However, no concussion tests were administered and he went right back on. He came off a second time a few minutes later, but then played most of the rest of the half before finally being removed just before halftime.
The second half, however, was almost as sloppy as the first half was clean. Charlotte asserted themselves, and the referee allowed them to play a much more physical game than in the first half. The Kickers could not keep the ball in-bounds, highlighted by a long ball out of the back by Conor Shanosky that went directly out of bounds. In addition, passes often went astray of their intended target. When the Kickers created chances, they fizzled out at the end or were improbably saved, as in the case of Matthew Delicate all but walking the ball into the goal.
The Richmond Kickers are back in action next Saturday when they host the league-worst Dayton Dutch Lions.