Northern Colorado Hailstorm are fun but Struggling

WINDSOR – Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC hosted Union Omaha yesterday evening. It was a hotly contested 3-2 loss for the home side. They’ve now lost two in a row at home and four overall. But they’re still in a playoff spot in the USL League One with 12 games to go. They may be struggling, but they might be the most fun and competitive professional soccer teams in Colorado.

Union Omaha has played several tense games against Hailstorm in the two years NoCo has existed. The Owls knocked NoCo out of the U.S. Open Cup in the Round of 32 last year. Éamon Zayed had some thoughts after that game. The teams split the first two matchups of 2023 with the home side winning. There’s been plenty of heated words between the whistles and the benches.

Omaha benefited from two first half penalties. A handball in the box after a nonthreatening 35 minutes saw Joe Gallardo open the scoring. NoCo left back Lucky Opara got a lucky bounce moments later to make it 1-1. Rob Cornwall got tangled up with Duba in the box just before halftime. John Scearce made it 1-2 at half.

Hailstorm bossed the second half. Union goalkeeper Rashid Nuhu made several big saves. Golden Boot leader Trevor Amann had a goal rightfully called offside. Several consecutive corners. They could not cash in. Pedro Dolabella made them pay on a rare corner for the visitors, making it 1-3 in the 80th.

Hailstorm went on to see an Irvin Parra goal called off and Amann hit the post on a corner. It was just Parra’s second appearance since returning to the club, having been diagnosed with testicular cancer back in April. Parra found Lucky Opara in the box in the 87th to make it 2-3. But it was too little too late.

Zayed still has the team playing a fun style. They press at times. They’re energetic in possession. Trevor Amann still leads the division in the Golden Boot race. Arthur Rogers is one of if not the best right backs in the league. For Rapids fans who haven’t watched, he’s basically manbun Andrew Gutman who takes corners.

It’s not going well but they’ve got Irvin Parra to rally around, who’s now come off the bench in two consecutive games. He played 90 minutes in the second matchday of league play on March 26 then missed the next four months due to testicular cancer.

“He was a our main man last year. Life happens. He’s come through it. He’s an inspiration to all of us. We’ve got four losses in a row. I’ve never experienced that in my life before. Even as a player, I never lost four games in a row. We’re in this hole. You can’t compare cancer and life to football. But Irvin dug himself out of a hole and he’s coming back stronger than ever. We need to do the same. We need to find inspiration from that,” Zayed told Burgundy Wave postgame.

“We are happy to have him back. He will help the team a lot. All of us, we love him so much. We comfort him all the time,” Opara added. He had his own motivation for that match as well.

They’re still in a playoff spot. They’ve proven over the last year and half they’re capable of playing better than they are now. They’ll probably make the playoffs. There’s a decent chance they get a home game for that first playoff game.

Combined with the more grass roots atmosphere and family-friendly pricing, they might be the be the most underrated thing in Colorado Soccer right now.

Photo Credit: Mark Shaiken.

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