FC Cincinnati and the Richmond Kickers drew 1-1 at Nippert Stadium in Cincinnati, OH on a night where a lightning delay came into effect only 20 seconds into the game. After the 58 minute delay the match resumed without a hitch.
Sean Okoli struck first in the 13th minute with a rebound goal off a cross from the right. A solid defensive day for the Cincinnati back four, led by Harrison Delbridge, almost giving Mitch Hildebrandt his third consecutive clean sheet.
Richmond’s Hugh Roberts equalized in the 93rd minute off a cross from the left that he was just able to get his foot on.
Cincinnati’s Okoli picked up the first yellow card of the match in the seventh minute due to a bad late challenge on Richmond’s defender Hugh Roberts.
Okoli scored the first goal of the game for Cincinnati in the 13th minute. A foul in the midfield led to a free kick where a pass and a cross from the right giving Okoli a shot that was saved by Richmond keeper Charlie Horton and the ensuing rebound was tapped into back of the net.
After the goal Cincinnati was able to generate a few chances in the next few minutes. The closest chance being a cross from the right that was inches away from Okoli’s head, almost giving him his second goal in 4 minutes.
Richmond’s best chance in the first half 20 minutes came in the 20th when a cross led to an open header that was blocked by Cincinnati defenders. They were reeling from the goal and were on their heels immediately after.
The second yellow card was given to Cincinnati’s Eric Stevenson in the 25th minute for an errant elbow on an off-ball foul against defender Travis Pittman in the midfield.
Free kick 23 yards out given for Cincinnati in the 32nd minute after Okoli fouled by defender William Yomby. Okoli takes a chance at goal hitting it harmlessly over.
The first half ended 1-0 with a long Cincinnati possession throughout the midfield in the Richmond defensive third that culminated in two chances, a cross that was unable to be met and a long shot that was blocked by a Richmond defender at the top of the box.
At the start of the second half a Cincinnati penalty shout was waved off by the referee in the 47th minute when Yomby appeared to knock down Okoli from behind in the box in a one-on-one situation with the keeper.
After a lull in match, Cincinnati put in a dangerous cross in the 66th min toward Okoli, which was expertly punched out by Richmond keeper Horton.
Richmond had another great chance in the 72nd minute with a cross near the end line leading to a free header for Jason Yiesly, who put it straight at the keeper Hildebrandt. This following a very good stretch of attacking play by Richmond.
Cincinnati midfielder Antoine Hoppenot just missed giving his team an insurance goal in the 84th minute missing a volley in the box where it was him and the keeper.
Two minutes later Richmond’s Nate Shiffman gave Cincinnati a free kick just outside the box on the left side of goal, the resulting free kick resulted in nothing.
In the three minutes of extra time Richmond won a corner resulting in a header going off the crossbar, the resulting rebound was shot and blocked before being corralled in by Hildebrandt. After he corralled the ball a Richmond player appeared to step on him causing Hildebrandt to stand up and get into the opposing player’s face.
Richmond equalized in the third minute of extra time with a cross from Brian Ownby on the left that Roberts was able to get his foot on and get it into the back of the net. The final whistle blew just after kick off to end the match.
