Athletic Club Boise held off a second-half Richmond Kickers comeback to claim a 2–1 victory in USL League One on Wednesday night. Tumi Moshobane and Nick Moon scored for the hosts, while Nils Seufert pulled one back for Richmond.
Boise wasted no time getting on the front foot. Moshobane struck in just the third minute to hand the home side an early advantage, and from there the match quickly turned combative. Sean Vinberg was cautioned in the 19th minute for Richmond, Phillip Mayaka picked one up for Boise three minutes later, and Austin Amer joined the book before the half-hour mark. The fouls kept coming from both sides.
Moon doubled the lead in the 42nd minute, finishing off a pass from Denys Kostyshyn to give Boise a comfortable cushion heading into the break. Moon then picked up a yellow card two minutes later as tensions continued to rise in a scrappy end to the first half.
Richmond regrouped after the interval. Darwin Espinal, booked himself in the 54th minute, turned provider moments later when he set up Seufert to halve the deficit in the 55th. Seufert was cautioned almost immediately after for his celebration, but the goal gave the Kickers genuine momentum.
Boise, though, held firm. The final half-hour was defined more by yellow cards than clear chances — Joshua Kirkland and Sam Layton were both booked for Richmond, while Jonathan Kliewer went into the referee's notebook for Boise late on. In total, the referee brandished 11 yellow cards across the 90 minutes.
The win gives Athletic Club Boise three valuable points at home as the season pushes past its midway point.
USL League One