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USL Richmond Kickers

Kickers, FC Montreal Battle to Scoreless Draw

June 13, 2015 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Richmond Kickers News Release


RICHMOND, VA - The Richmond Kickers battled FC Montreal to a scoreless draw on a steamy Saturday night at City Stadium.

Searching for their first road win, FC Montreal tested the Kickers defense early when midfielder Marco Dominguez eluded his mark at the midline and played Zakaria Messoudi behind the defense. Messoudi back heeled a pass to Fabio Morelli who fired towards the right post but his low driven shot glanced just wide inside the first 10 minutes.

The Kickers responded when goalkeeper Ryan Taylor punted to the opposite end of the field. Forward Matthew Delicate warded off a defender as the ball bounced to Jason Yeisley who nodded it back to him. The Kickers forward settled the ball and blasted a right footed shot that skied just over the crossbar.

Eager for the icebreaker before the halftime break, a Kickers counterattack freed Samuel Asante and Jason Yeisley for a give and go that left Asante racing towards goal. With the Montreal back line closing in, he split two defenders at the left edge of the box and rocketed a shot but goalkeeper Max Crepeau blocked his effort to keep the match scoreless into the break.

Picking up where they left off after the break, the Kickers nearly took the lead five minutes into the second half when Michael Callahan drew a foul in the midfield. Hugh Roberts teed up the resulting free kick and connected with Delicate in the air at the top of the swarming box. Eli Garner scooped up the ball in the fray and played it back to an onrushing Yeisley but Crepeau's leaping save stifled the attack.

A flurry of chances at the hour mark began when Callahan swept through the midfield and played Delicate wide on the left flank. Heavily marked, he played the ball back to George Davis IV who switched the ball to Asante at the right edge of the box. He settled the ball for a streaking Brian Ownby who rounded the defense and sliced the ball across the goal mouth, but Frederic Lajoie-Gravelle headed it off the line.

Montreal countered with a long ball deep in Kickers territory that Lajoie-Gravelle collected at the top of the 18. Facing Kickers defender Stephen Basso 1v1, he fed the ball wide to defender Chakib Hocine who launched a shot from a difficult angle and rattled the crossbar.

Five minutes later, Garner danced around his defender and centered the ball for Asante who zipped into the box. Under pressure, he served the ball back to Davis who fired a point blank shot from the left side but Crepeau was on his line and made the block. Collecting the rebound, Davis floated the ball back into the mix, finding Yeisley but his one-time volley was parried wide.

With full-time looming near, Montreal were once again denied by the woodwork when shots by second half substitute Musta Kuchar and Fabio Morelli ricocheted off the crossbar and the left post in the 77th and 86th minutes respectively to keep the match deadlocked.

The Richmond Kickers return to City Stadium on Wednesday, June 17 to host Columbus Crew SC in the U.S. Open Cup Fourth Round. Kickoff is slated for 7:00 p.m. and tickets are on sale now at RichmondKickers.com.

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