Rapids Swept in first trip to Fayetteville

By: Alex Husting

The Rapids struggled to find any offense in their first trip to Fayetteville, with just two combined goals between the teams. The Rapids Women were on the pitch first and could not find any offense until the fourth quarter, falling in a 10-1 loss. The Rapids Men tied the match early, but had little success after that in a 9-1 defeat. 

Match 1

After going 2-1 in a three-game series last weekend, the Rapids Women (4-7) traveled to Fayetttevile to take on the Fury (2-9-1) for the first time. A defensive battle ensued right after kickoff, with just six shots combined in the first quarter. 

Following that, the Fury offense exploded and never looked back, with 26 shots and 10 goals in the final three quarters. The Rapids had no answer on defense and little on offense with one goal coming at the start of the four quarter. 

The Fury attack was led by a quartet of attackers: Eryka Underwood, Ashley Buchta, Stephanie Quintatilla and Kate Weisner. Each scored two goals in the match, with Ashley Buchta adding an assist and Kate Weisner assisting on two goals in the contest.

The Rapids went with two goalkeepers tonight in Haley Ryan and Bria Riancho and both struggled. Ryan allowed six goals and had seven saves on 13 shots against while Riancho allowed four goals on 12 shots against, with eight saves. 

Coupled with a furious attack, the Fayetteville defense was lights out, holding the Rapids to one fourth quarter goal from goalkeeper Bria Riancho who was playing in the field. Fury goalkeeper Mayar Elgeyoshi had 17 saves on 18 shots against with just one goal allowed. 

The Rapids came to Fayetteville on a short week after what was an already long weekend of back-to-back-to-back matches. They will be looking to rebound when they travel to Fayetteville once again on March 1.

Match 2

Coming off their third win of the season, and second in three matches, the Rapids Men (3-8) looked to extend their winning streak against the best team in the NISL, the Fayetteville Fury (8-3-1). The Rapids Men were 0-3 against the Fury heading into tonight and now they are 0-4 after a 9-1 defeat at the hands of Fayetteville.

The first quarter, like the women’s game, was competitive, with both teams traded goals with Horacio Gutierrez scoring first for the Fury and Brandon Cervantes responding with a goal of his own. That was the closest the game would get as the momentum shifted in favor of the Fury. Fayetteville ended the first quarter with a 2-1 lead after Fernando Castellanos found the back of the net with just over one minute remaining.

A second quarter hat trick for the Fury offense gave them a comfortable 5-1 lead going into halftime and the offensive onslaught continued out of the break with two goals in each of the final quarters to end the game in a 9-1 victory for Fayetteville.

The Fury were led by Gutierrez, Castellanos and Dominic Jensen with each player scoring twice. Cameron Steele was the main facilitator for the Fury with two assists during the match.

The Fury used two goalkeepers in the match and both had success defending the Rapids attack. Kenneth Perkinson had five saves and one goal allowed on six shots against while Samuel Terranova was perfect with four saves on four shots against.

The Rapids offense struggled after the first quarter, with just eight shots in the final three quarters and 11 overall while the Fury offense was constantly on the attack with 35 shots throughout the match. 

Both Rapids teams will look to rebound from the losses on Thursday March 3 when they travel to Fayetteville. You can watch both matches in their entirety on the NISL Youtube Channel season tickets for all Rapids remaining home games are on sale here.

ABOUT NATIONAL INDOOR SOCCER LEAGUE (NISL): 

The National Indoor Soccer League, which has its league office in Georgia, was founded in January 2021 by a group of experienced sports team/league owners with over 40 years of ownership experience. The NISL has plans to grow the league nationally within the next three years and will kick off its inaugural season in December 2021. The league will operate a Men's & Women's division with each market fielding both teams. Fans will be able to watch a men’s and women’s game each gameday.  For more information, go to nislpro.com.