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USL1 Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC

Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC Downs Peak XI 4-1 for First Preseason Win

March 19, 2022 - United Soccer League One (USL1)
Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC News Release


Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC scored two goals in each half, and a roster made up largely of trialists eased its way to a 4-1 win over Peak XI in Lafayette on Friday night.

Northern Colorado started in a 3-5-2 formation, with Johan Peñaranda making his first appearance of the preseason in goal, Leo Folla making his first preseason start at center back flanked by two trialists, Shane McFaul making his first preseason start alongside another two trialists in the center of midfield, Stefan Lukic on the right wing, Marky Hernández on the left wing, and Lachlan McLean and Ethan Vanacore-Decker starting up top.

Hailstorm FC opened the scoring in the third minute when McLean, making his Northern Colorado debut after only arriving in the country from Australia eight days earlier, collected a pass from a trialist 25 yards out and blasted a shot that arced over the Peak XI goalkeeper, who was standing off his line, and into the back of the net.

In the 33rd minute, Vanacore-Decker doubled Northern Colorado's lead when he took a pass from Lukic and deftly chipped the Peak XI goalkeeper.

As the half wore on, Lukic and Hernández became more and more of a handful for Peak XI's defenders, and in the 38th minute Lukic came close to making it 3-0 when he got the ball at the edge of the penalty area with his back to the goal, turned, beat two defenders, and ripped off a shot that the opposing goalkeeper did well to parry wide.

Westminster native Trevor Amann came on in place of McLean for the second half, while Lukic made way for a trialist who, three minutes after the restart, buried the ball in the back of the net with a laser of a shot through traffic that the Peak XI goalkeeper had no chance of saving.

In the 59th minute, Folla went down with a leg injury. With Northern Colorado set to face Colorado Rapids 2 on Sunday and Hailstorm head coach Éamon Zayed wary of risking an injury to another contracted player ahead of the clash, Peñaranda moved to center back to replace Folla, while a trialist goalkeeper subbed on and took Peñaranda's place in goal.

Two minutes after the match resumed, Peak XI took advantage of some confusion in Northern Colorado's penalty area and knocked the ball home during a goalmouth scramble to cut the lead to 3-1.

In the 77th minute, Hernández scored his first goal of the night, and his second in as many matches, with a powerful strike that hit home in the top of the net to give Northern Colorado the 4-1 lead they held until the end of the match. The goal was assisted by another trialist, who had just come on to replace Vanacore-Decker.

Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC will return to action on Sunday, March 20, when they play a preseason match against Colorado Rapids 2. The match will be played at Jackson Stadium in Greeley, with kickoff set for 3:00 p.m. and a meet-and-greet where fans can meet Hailstorm FC's players and coaches to immediately follow the full-time whistle.

SCORING SUMMARY

3' Goal Lachlan McLean. Assist trialist.

33' Goal Ethan Vanacore-Decker. Assist Stefan Lukic.

61' Goal peak XI.

77' Goal Marky Hernández. Assist trialist.

HEAD COACH ÉAMON ZAYED

It was good to get the minutes in the legs. It was only our third preseason game, and obviously we have another game on Sunday so we're really just utilizing the weekend to really just get minutes for the guys.

There were some good goals, and it was a competitive game between the two sides. PEAK XI did well, they were up for the challenge, but the most important thing was getting minutes for the guys.

LACHLAN McLEAN

When you start at a new club, especially as a striker, all you want to do is score goals and help the team. That felt really good. Overall we had a great performance today, definitely a lot of stuff to work on but it was good to get our first win as a club.

Preseason's all about learning to understand each other as players, and learning how you want to play as a team. As we go through preseason, every game and every training, we're getting more familiar with each other, and the more familiar with each other we get, the better we'll be.

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