USL Game Report

Saturday, April 25, 2015

MONTREAL, Quebec – Richmond forward Matthew Delicâte posted his 200th point in a Kickers uniform with the lone goal to lift Richmond to a 1-0 win against FC Montreal on Saturday afternoon at Stade Saputo's Turf Field. A staunch defense posted its fourth consecutive shutout as the Kickers moved into sole possession of first place in the USL's Eastern Conference standings.

FC Montreal tested Kickers goalkeeper Trevor Spangenberg immediately out of the gates when midfielder Louis Beland-Goyette intercepted the ball in the second minute and fed it through to an unmarked Kenny Cooper. Collecting the ball at the top of the box, the forward settled the ball and launched a left-footed shot on target, but Spangenberg leaped to his right to stifle the early effort.

The Kickers responded less than 10 minutes later when midfielder Brian Ownby latched onto a loose ball and carried it to the top of the penalty arean before slicing a cross to George Davis IV at the left edge of the box. Davis ripped a low, driven shot to the far post but the ball whistled just wide of the upright.

Spangenberg was called upon again twice in a span of eight minutes when FC Montreal peppered the Kickers' goal with a pair of dangerous chances. First, defender Janouk Charbonneau served a pass to Jeremy Gagnon-Lapare in the midfield who launched a long ball to Victor Ndiye. The swift forward eluded his defender and fired from six yards out, but Spangenberg dove to the near post to make the save.

Then, a Montreal goal kick found defender John Dinkota, who played forward Fabio Morelli over the defense. Morelli squared the ball in the penalty area, connecting with an onrushing Beland-Goyette, who crushed a low shot from point blank range, only to be denied by Spangenberg.

Just past the half-hour mark, the Kickers broke the ice when Ownby stripped the ball off the foot of Dinkota deep in Montreal territory. Racing to the top of the six-yard box, he centered the ball for Delicâte, who made no mistake from the penalty spot, calmly tucking the ball past a diving Eric Kronberg to take a first half lead.

Ten minutes after the break, the Kickers nearly doubled their advantage when second half substitute Eli Garner stole the ball in the midfield. Taking on three defenders, he battled his way to the top of the penalty area before feeding the ball wide to Ownby on the left flank. Ownby lined up a shot from a difficult angle and Kronberg bobbled the save but quickly recovered as Alex Lee approached for the follow-up shot.

Desperate for the equalizer, Montreal turned up the pressure with 20 minutes remaining in regulation and nearly capitalized twice when second half substitute Anthony Jackson-Hamel was left unmarked at the left post. 

First, a short corner was played back to Mele Temjuia, who served it into the box from distance.  Lurking at the penalty spot, Eric Alexander flicked the ball on to Jackson-Hamel but he could not settle a shot before Spangenberg beat him to the ball.

Later, he was thwarted by side netting when midfielder Zaharia Messoudi lined up a corner kick and delivered an inswinger into the box. The ball pinged around before it was cleared out, only to be collected by Zachary Sukunda, who lofted it over the swarming box to an awaiting Jackson-Hamel who misfired his left-footed shot into the side-netting, which allowed the Kickers to return home with all three points.