ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Saint Louis FC drew 1-1 against Fresno FC in front of 3,683 fans on a cold night at Toyota Stadium in Match 4 of the USL regular season. Saint Louis FC is back home for their next match against LA Galaxy II on Saturday, April 14th at 7:30 p.m. CT.
Saint Louis FC opened the scoring in stoppage time of the first half through Corey Hertzog who stepped up to convert from the penalty spot. Fresno FC would equalize soon after the halftime break from a Juan Caffa header in the 47th minute to earn the draw.
The first half started with STLFC on the front foot as Austin Martz burst down the right and found Hertzog on the near post in the 1st minute to force a dangerous opportunity. Fresno responded with a counter from Bradley Kamdem Fewo who found Danny Barrera in the middle but he pulled his shot wide in the 6th minute. Hertzog created space at the top of the box and narrowly pulled his left-footed shot wide of the target in the 10th minute before Martz replicated the same move with his effort in the 27th minute. Saint Louis FC would break the deadlock before the halftime interval as a goalmouth scramble led to a Fresno handball in the box and the referee pointed to the penalty spot for Hertzog to step up and score his first goal of the season.
The second half saw Fresno FC come out on the attack and they leveled the score in the 47th minute as Caffa was found in the box with a cross from Kamdem Fewo and his header nestled in the far corner. STLFC pressed for a winner and came close in the 73rd minute as newly-signed loanee Tony Rocha back-heeled a loose ball which was cleared off the line. The home side continued to create opportunities, including dangerous chances from free kicks, but Fresno FC held on to see both sides walk away with a point.
“For me, I think we started the first 15-20 minutes slow as they played a system that kind of surprised us,” said STLFC Head Coach Anthony Pulis. “Once we settled down and used our wide men I think we started to become more dangerous and deserved the goal. The message at halftime was to kick-on from there but we didn’t start the second half well and gave away a poor goal in my opinion. From that moment I thought we were the team in the ascendancy and unfortunately we could not break them down.”
