Kickers Preparing for Hailstorm – Preview

Opponent: Northern Colorado Hailstorm (2 – 2 – 4)
Date/Time: Saturday, June 18th, 6:30 PM
Last Result: Kickers 4 – Independence 0

Weather Forecast from Weatherbug

After this past week of full-on heat and humidity, the weather for Saturday is looking perfect.

Three Things to Kick About

1. No Place Like Home – This will the Kickers 4th home game in a row. Out of a possible 9 points they’ve nabbed 7. The chance to get 10 out of 12 on Saturday looms large. Winning at home is crucial to stay in the playoff race and the Kickers are getting it done. On paper they should beat or at the very least draw against Colorado so looking at either 8 or 10 points is awesome. For those that say the regular season doesn’t matter, we missed a home playoff game last year by one point. Every point matters and the team is well aware.
2. So Many Goal Scorers –  Last game yet another player tallied his first Kickers USL goals. Ethan Bryant aka the Blonde Menace, scored two almost identical goals. Another player who has been relatively quiet Bentley banged in two as well. Interestingly that puts him a tie with Terzaghi for most goals this season at 4. This also put them both two goals behind in the Golden Boot race. I’m just wondering if we’ll see yet another first-timer get on the tally sheet.
3. Bolanos – Bolanos served up three assists on the goals. He was also denied a goal by some fearless goalkeeping. The past three games he has been a beast on the wings and tearing apart defenses. I expect even more of the same. Keep your eye on Bolanos and you’re sure to be impressed. Bolanos was named USL 1 Player of the Week so I’m not alone in my estimation of his awesomeness

Prediction

Overconfidence is a horrible thing for any fan of a sports team and should be avoided. That being said I’m Mayor McConfident of Total Victorytown Slayer of all other USL1 Teams and sit upon a throne of goals that reach to the sky. The reality check is that if you look at our home stand we started with a decisive 3-0 win, then a bummer of a 2-2 draw, and lastly a massive 4-0 win. If you believe in patterns that means we’re heading for another draw. I don’t think that is likely due to the opponent. Northern Colorado ranks at the bottom for goals scored with a mere 9. The Kickers are at the top with 18. Northern Colorado has 1 clean sheet while Akira and the Kickers have 3. Goal differential is Kickers +9, Nothern Colorado -2. The Kickers don’t have any major players out (that we know of) so expect the usual leaders on the pitch. Anything but a win will be surprising, a draw will be disappointing and a lose will cause much headshaking and looks skyward.

Kickers 3 – Hailstorm 1