Rapids swept in home opener

By: Alex Husting

The Fayetteville Fury exited the Columbus Civic Center after sweeping the Rapids, winning 5-3 in the women’s match and 11-1 in the men’s match. The Rapids now fall to 0-2 in the inaugural NISL season and the Fury are 1-0.

Following a sweep against the Memphis Americans, the Columbus Rapids returned to the Columbus Civic Center for their home opener against the Fayetteville Fury.

The Rapids Women’s team was first on the pitch for kickoff at 5:30 p.m. EST. Both teams got off to a fast start with the Fury striking first on a goal from forward Sara Magno. The Rapids responded quickly with an Olivia Jarell goal on an assist from Megan Byers to tie it up in the first quarter.

Both attacks slowed down in the second quarter with no goals between either team and the 1-1 tie maintained as the teams headed to the locker room for halftime.

The Fury bounced back immediately at the start of the third quarter with Sara Magno scoring again to give the Fury the 2-1 lead. The Rapids tied it up again only two minutes later with another goal from Olivia Jarrell to make it 2-2 in the third. 

Casey Hall followed that up with a goal of her own late in the third to give the Rapids their first lead in franchise history. Hall signed with the Rapids just three days prior to tonight’s match. 

The lead would not last long however as Magno scored her third straight goal to tie it up once again, giving her the first hat trick in Fury history. 

As the fourth quarter got underway, it was Kate Weisner who took the lead back for the Fury with her first goal of the night to give Fayetteville a 4-3 lead. The Fury would hold on to this lead and win their season opener 5-3 after a penalty kick goal with 10 seconds remaining from Eryka Underwood.

After an intermission, the Rapids Men’s team entered the pitch for the matchup with the Fury. The Rapids were on the board first with a goal from Manny Chavez nearly ten minutes into the contest. Chavez signed with the Rapids yesterday. 

The Fury responded almost immediately with a goal from Jason McCartneyto make it 1-1 at the 4:47 mark. 

From that point on, the Fury took control of the contest, scoring 4 more goals in the first half to take a 5-1 lead heading into halftime.

The Rapids did slow the Fury attack down in the third quarter, holding Fayetteville to just one goal, but Columbus could not mount any offense during that stretch and they trailed 6-1 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Fury found the most offensive success in the fourth quarter, scoring five more times to give them a 11-1 victory in their season opener. 

The Rapids will have a week off before reentering the Columbus Civic Center for a doubleheader on January 7 and 8 when the undefeated Memphis Americans come to town.

The full stream of both matches can be found here on the NISL Youtube channel.

Tickets for all Rapids 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