(Photo Credit: Nick Yahl – Arch City Sports)
After netting the first goal of the evening off a Bryan Gaul penalty kick Saint Louis FC conceded
three straight goals en route to a 3-1 loss at home to the Richmond Kickers Saturday night at World Wide Technology Park.
Saint Louis is now 1-5-3 in league play at home and remains in eighth place in the Eastern Conference standings with 18 points and an overall record of 4-6-6.
Saint Louis jumped out to a quick lead in the 12th minute when Jermie Lynch was taken down inside the Rickmond box, which drew a penalty kick. Gaul stepped up and converted delivering a low stike to the left of the keeper to put the home side up 1-0.
Arch City Sports on Twitter
12′ Bryan Gaul converts the PK and @SaintLouisFC leads Richmond 1-0! http://t.co/EHclUnvMeZ
This had the 4,562 fans excited as this marked the first time of late that Saint Louis registered the first goal of the game. Though that excitement wouldn’t last long as Richmond responded with a goal of its own following a water break. Moments before half time Alex Lee sent a pass across the box to the far post that found the foot of Charles Davis IV tying the game up 1-1.
Saint Louis FC head coach Dale Schilly said afterwards that he told his players Richmond was a team capable of coming back from a deificit.
“I told my guys, Richmond isn’t a team that gets rattled. They’re going to find a way and come back from that goal they just conceded, so don’t be surprised if they come back at us. That’s what happened,” said Schilly.
Experience played a key role for the Kickers as they answered the call late with a pair of goals to stretch their lead to 3-1. Jason Yeisley and Michael Callahan each had powerful shots that found the back of the net in the 75th and 81st minute respectively.
Richmond went on to win the game by a final of 3-1.
With the victory the Kickers are fourth in the Eastern Conference standings with 29 points and a record of 7-3-8. Richmond out shot Saint Louis 10-5 on the evening and did not allow a single shot from the home side in the second half.
The lone bright spot for Saint Louis as they continue to work through this tough stretch of results came in the return of midfielders Brandon Barklage and James Musa. The pair had been battling injuries throughout the past few weeks and having them back in the lineup should give the team a boost.
Not in the lineup was defenseman Patrick Doody, who was called up to play for the Chicago Fire. Doody started in the1-0 winner over Seattle after being called up to MLS circuit last week.
Saint Louis will look to grab a victory and get things moving back in the right direction its next time out when they travel to the Great White North on a two game road trip. The team takes on FC Montreal on Wednesday July 15 before heading to Toronto to square off with Toronto FC II next Saturday July 18.
For more Saint Louis FC coverage follow @NickYahl on Twitter.
