Northern Colorado FC beat Central Valley Fuego 4-1 at home

Local football fans could see what happens when fire and ice collide. It was Northern Colorado FC’s first home win on Wednesday night.

The Hailstorm (3-3-4) defeated Central Valley Fuego (3-3-5), 4-1, at Greeley. Previous home games ended in a draw.

Not only did the victory feel good, but the response – both offensively and defensively – was strong. The side conceded an early goal in the seventh minute which could have spelled trouble for the rising club. Instead, it seemed to motivate the team.

“I’d rather be woken up from the first minute than the first whistle rather than concede a goal but I think the goal we conceded woke the lads up, great reaction,” said Hailstorm coach Éamon Zayed . “We’ve gotten better and better at it. That was a little earlier in the year; We didn’t react at all to goals conceded. Now we can react much better. After that I thought we dominated the game.”

NoCo’s first goal came in the 21st minute. Striker Trevor Amann crossed the penalty area on the right, followed by the goalkeeper. Amann passed the ball to fellow forward Lachlan McLean, who scored while the net was virtually unprotected.

Amann said he did not see McLean but could hear him to some extent. He wanted to score – although from a perspective it would have been difficult – or put a team-mate in position to do so.

“I just have faith that he has the vision and the ability to find me in this space,” McLean said. “It was a tap in. He gave me a golden chance to start my target tally for the year.

Amann scored an own goal in the 41st minute to give the Hails storms a 2-1 lead. He finished with three shots on target and two tackles.

Not only did he have an impressive performance, but he had to do it in front of people he loves. Amann said he always wants to do well, so having his family around isn’t necessarily an extra motivator, but it adds value.

“This is the first game my grandpa has released in the last three years or so and he liked all of our games,” Amann said. “It means a lot to me to have him back. Then it’s always nice to be able to have my parents and my girlfriend as well.”

Another exciting situation came in the 74th minute. A Fuego player kicked the ball to his own goalkeeper so he could throw it back to the other side of the field. Instead, it almost became an own goal. Fuego blocked the shot, but midfielder Marky Hernandez collected the ball and passed it to striker Irvin Parra for the third goal of the night.

About three minutes later, Hernandez scored to end the game.

Hernandez and McLean’s goals were their firsts of the season.

“I think like everything, it takes time. Every day we work hard on the training ground to make sure the results come eventually,” McLean said. “I think for all of us it was just really good; It was a relief that the results were finally coming. I just think this is the beginning for us. I think we will keep getting better and better.”

Zayed was “delighted” with the four goals as the side aim to score at least three goals in every home game. Nevertheless, he knows that the hailstorm can still get better.

“First time I’ve scored more than two goals this year, that’s great. I’m happy about the four, but to be honest we could have scored seven or eight goals. We only have to clear away some of these opportunities. I want to be a team we get, we get another, we get another, we get another.

Only five points separate the No. 10 Hailstorm and the No. 1 Richmond Kickers. Four other teams have just one point more than Northern Colorado, while Union Omaha has the same number of points but one loss fewer.

NoCo has a chance to earn more points and hopefully move up the leaderboard. It will travel to Greenville Triumph SC for a game on Saturday at 5 p.m.