Day 8 at Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta 2, Richmond 1 (OT)
Atlanta's John Berry Nusum put home a rebound in the 96th minute, after a free kick by teammate Carlos Parra rebounded off the right, and that goal sent Atlanta to their third victory of the season, a 2-1 overtime victory over the visiting Richmond Kickers. Ramon Luna had the first Silverbacks goal, while Rob Ukrop had the lone tally for the Kickers.
It was a surprisingly cool and pleasant evening at Atlanta's DeKalb Memorial Stadium, and the Silverbacks faced a tall order against the hot Richmond Kickers. The Kickers nearly took a very early lead when Greg Simmonds' header from 10 yards out forced a tip save by Atlanta goalkeeper Bryheem Hancock. The Kickers had another good chance in the 15th minute when after a bad clearance by the Silverbacks, Chris Fox played a full volley from 30 yards out that forced another tip over the bay by Hancock.
In the 27th minute, the Silverbacks had their first good scoring chance when John Barry Nusum put a header just over the bar from near the penalty spot. Then in the 39th minute, the Silverbacks took the lead when Mac Cozier played a nice overlap to a streaking Ramon Luna, who appeared to fumble on the ball near the top of the box, but gained possession as he cut back to his left, then fired a shot just inside the right post to put the Silverbacks up 1-0, which would be the score at the half.
Six minutes into the second half, the Kickers nearly tied the match when Kevin Jeffrey had a good look at goal from near the top of the box, and Hancock needed a diving save to his right to deflect the shot wide. Four minutes later, Atlanta had another good scoring opportunity when Cozier's header off a free kick was just wide. In the 72nd minute, it appeared Richmond had tied the score on a quick attack down the right side, and a cross to a header which was into the net, but the flag on the far side had gone up and the goal was disallowed.
Having let Atlanta control the pace of much of the match, the Kickers were now pressing forward more as they looked for the equalizer. Three minutes later, Jeffrey had another good chances as he had the ball on his feet near the top of the box, but his shot was just barely over the bar.
In the 84th minute, Richmond got the equalizer they were pressing for when a long cross from Simmonds found Rob Ukrop unmarked at the far post, and he full volleyed the ball towards the center of the net from about five yards out, with the ball deflecting off an Atlanta defender before bouncing into the net. The Silverbacks were now clearly back on their heels hoping to hold on until overtime, and Ukrop nearly ended the match in the 88th minute when he put a header just wide right from six yards out. But neither team would threaten again in regulation and they would go into overtime level at 1-1.
The Kickers carried the momentum into overtime, and Ukrop once again nearly ended the match on a header that was just over the bar. In the 94th minute, the Kickers had a golden opportunity to win the match when Ukrop had the ball rebound to him alone at the top of box, and he was able to turn on the ball put a shot towards the left side of the net, which required a fully-extended diving save by Hancock to tip the ball wide.
The Silverbacks had not threatened the Kickers net for most of the second half and into overtime, but when they had their chance to put the ball on net, they took advantage of it. In the 96th minute, an Atlanta free kick from 35 yards out by Carlos Parra hit off the right post, as Richmond goalkeeper Ronnie Pascale made a dive for it. But the ball rebounded back out towards the penalty spot, where it was controlled by Nusum, who buried the shot into the empty net, and gave the Silverbacks fans their fireworks fifteen minutes early with their second straight win.
