Fort Lauderdale CF earned a 1-1 draw versus Richmond Kickers in City Stadium on a rainy Saturday evening. The match was set to kick off at 6:30 p.m. ET on ESPN+, but due to inclement weather was delayed minutes past 7 p.m. ET.
With sunnier skies ahead, the first six minutes of the game proved advantageous for Fort Lauderdale. After finding room to operate, Braxton Najib, Shaan Hundal, and Mitch Curry combined to disorient the opposition, and leave Curry wide open for his fourth goal of the season, and the first goal of the match.Â
For the remainder of the first half, the home team maintained control of possession, but defensive stops from Aimé Mabika, and Noah Allen, and saves from Drake Callender kept the sheet clean leading into halftime for Fort Lauderdale.Â
Rolling early into the second half of the match, another delay was issued due to lingering inclement weather. The match continued once more, after an hour and a half setback since it was paused at the 52-minute game mark. Fort Lauderdale appeared to demonstrate efficiency in their possession time as Ignacio Poplawski led an aggressive attempt to extend the lead at the 72-minute mark. Mere minutes later, Allen tracked down an extended pass from Poplawski and immediately found Joshua Saavedra ready to chip a shot towards the goal. The attempt however, landed squarely onto the hands of the goalkeeper and the score remained 0-1.
With four minutes left of regulation, the Kickers desperately tried to find the equalizer. At the 86-minute mark Richmond’s Oalex Anderson found teammate Emiliano Terzaghi turning towards the goal inside the eight-yard box as Terzaghi flicked the ball with enough momentum leading the ball to roll off the hands of the goalkeeper and into the back of the net for the draw.Â
Next up for Fort Lauderdale is a visit to the city of Four Lakes as the Club looks to take on Forward Madison on the road in Breese Stevens Field next weekend on Saturday, July 24 at 8 p.m. ET.
