RICHMOND,
VA – The Richmond Kickers extended their unbeaten streak, battling the Los Angeles Blues to a 1-1 draw Saturday night.
In a tale-of-two halves, the Kickers held a first half advantage
on an early Joseph Ngwenya tally until Blues midfielder Juan Perez
buried an 88th minute equalizer to steal a point at City Stadium.
Following
several ill-fated attempts on both sides of the field, the Kickers nearly broke through in the 34th minute when midfielder Luke Vercollone stole the ball in the midfield and fed it to Ngwenya.
The Zimbabwean international swiftly maneuvered past his mark and
played a square ball across the top of the box to an awaiting Michael
Seaton.
The 17-year old forward’s low shot was blocked by a staunch Blues
defense but Nate Robinson attempted to scoop up the rebound near the
endline, only to see his shot from a difficult angle cleared off the
line.
The
Kickers attack could not be stifled three minutes later when Robinson
struck a low driven ball through traffic from the top of the 18.
The Blues defense once again redirected the ball from harm’s way, but this time the ricochet found a well-positioned Ngwenya.
Taking two steps around his defender, he lofted the ball over the
outstretched hands of goalkeeper Steve Gonzalez and into the back of
the net.
