North Carolina FC’s fourth and final showdown with the Richmond Kickers this regular season ended in a 0-0 draw on Saturday, Aug. 28 at City Stadium in Richmond, Virginia. With the draw, NCFC has taken eight points from a possible 12 against Richmond this season, going undefeated with two wins and two draws.

NCFC head coach John Bradford made just one change to the starting XI that beat Forward Madison 1-0 on Wednesday night, with new loanee Aziel Jackson making his first start for the club, replacing Selmir Miscic.

While he made less impact later in the first half, and was eventually substituted in the 57th minute, Jackson was a spark for NCFC early in the game. Combining well with his new teammates, Jackson got into dangerous areas around the box and generated some half chances, but was unable to get anything to go.

NCFC started the game on the front foot, riding high from that midweek win, but Richmond got more into the game as the evening wore on. Despite NCFC outshooting the Kickers 7-4 in the first half, Richmond ended the game having narrowly outshot NCFC 12-11.

NCFC was outshot 8-4 in the second half, but had some excellent chances to steal all three points late in the game. The best of the chances came from Robby Kristo, who’s close-range header late in stoppage time was denied by a stunning diving save from Richmond’s Akira Fitzgerald. 

Parker O’Ferral and Britton Fischer, two of NCFC’s teenage academy standouts, were very impressive defensively, especially in the first half . The pair also started against Forward Madison and earned high praise from their head coach after the game, making their appearance in the starting XI against Richmond unsurprising. 

Going against one of the league’s Golden Boot contenders, O’Ferral, Fischer and the rest of the NCFC defense did well to limit Emiliano Terzaghi’s effectiveness, holding him to one shot on target and catching him offside four times. 

NCFC will be back in action on Saturday, Sept. 4, taking on Union Omaha for the first time this season.