Texoma Rallies For 1-0 Win Over Richmond Kickers
A Happy Ending At Home!
Tale of the Tape
Coming into the match, both teams were already mathematically eliminated from post-season contention. Richmond (13th; 26 pts) had won their previous matchup against One Knoxville (1st; 51 pts), while Texoma (12th; 30 pts) had not won a game since August 23rd.
Lineups
First Half
Texoma’s star goalkeeper Javier Garcia made history by saving another penalty kick. This save marks his 6th save of the season, breaking USL and USL1 records. USL1 statistics show Garcia has also not conceded any penalties in regular season play.
Texoma’s defense played a great game as well, minimizing chances put forward by Richmond, and saving potential goals by clearing them off the goal line. Texoma had a few good chances as well, almost opening up the scoring early when midfielder Spengler fired a shot that hit the post, beating the keeper, but narrowly missing goal.
The first half would end deadlocked at 0-0, being mostly uneventful.
Second Half
The second half started rather uneventful. Texoma received a corner in the 59th minute. McManus came out with the ball and was able to tap in the shot to open up the scoring for Texoma.
Richmond desperately searched for an equalizer, and were more aggressive with their challenges. Richmond tallied 3 yellow cards all in the second half; Texoma had 3 as well. 6 total cards were given, and 5 of them were conceded in the second half. Surprisingly however, none of Texoma’s yellow cards went to Coach Forbes.
Richmond failed to put up decent chances showing lackluster offense, and were saved multiple times by their goalkeeper and defense.
What’s Next?
Texoma’s next match will prove to be a challenge for los pájaros (the birds), as they travel to Covenant Health Park to take on One Knoxville SC. Texoma is unfortunately eliminated from reaching playoff contention. However, the debut season was nothing to be ashamed of. Texoma broke USL records and cemented themselves as a team to watch in the future.