2004 A-League Season Opens Saturday
Defending champ Charleston heads to Richmond
The 2004 season kicks-off with a bang as the defending A-League Champion Charleston Battery head to Richmond, Virginia to take on the Richmond Kickers, 2002 A-League finalists, this Saturday, April 17th at 7pm.
Both teams have made significant changes during the off-season, as the Battery return only eight of the 16 players that took part in the championship match. Meanwhile, Richmond loaned 2003 Rookie of the Year David Testo to MLS' Columbus Crew, and have re-signed two former Kickers in Richie Williams (1993-1995) and David Hayes (2002). The Kickers also added former Charlotte Eagles midfielder Caleb Norkus as well as PDL standouts Matthew Delicate and McColm Cephas of the Richmond Kickers Future.
"We have a good mix of youth and experience," says Kickers Head Coach Leigh Cowlishaw. "We have a lot of players who want to win a championship… Not making the playoffs last year definitely motivates us. The way we finished the last ten games last year is the way we want to start the first 10 games this year."
To fill the void left by the departed players, Charleston has signed defender Nick Downing from the Portland Timbers, midfielder Justin Evans, defender Michael Green and forward Aleksey Korol from the Pittsburgh Riverhounds and defender Ivan McKinley, a former MLS standout.
"Whenever you start with a new team there is some apprehension that you may not repeat," says Battery Head Coach Chris Ramsey, who points to players' skill and mental stamina as main issues in the quest to replicate last year's success. "We have to get the new players to perform."
The Battery signed forward Greg Simmonds from the Kickers to replace last year's scoring leader Josh Henderson, who is not on the playing roster at this time.
"Henderson is currently making a life-decision," comments Ramsey. "We have Greg Simmonds, so we don't feel like we've lost any firepower. It's always a blow to lose players you consider to be talented. But we don't want to look back."
The two franchises each have a storied history, as both are USL Hall of Fame 10+ Clubs. They have competed in the same league for nine of the past 11 years and have always been in the same conference or division. However the two teams have met just once in postseason play, when the Kickers used a 3-1 second leg victory to edge the Battery 4-3 on aggregate in 2002.
The Battery got their revenge in 2003, holding a 2-1-1 edge over Richmond in the season series and winning the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference on their way to capturing the A-League Championship. It was their first championship trophy since winning the Pro League (now Pro Soccer League) in 1996.
Richmond is the only USL team to ever capture the 'double' after winning the both the Premier League and the U.S. Open Cup in 1995. Charleston and Richmond both moved up to the A-League when it merged with USL in 1997. The Kickers hold a slim 14-13-2 record overall over Charleston. This is the second year in a row that these two teams have squared off to open the season, with the Battery taking a 2-0 decision in Richmond in 2003.
"We are two teams that begin training early and are ready to play games early," says Cowlishaw. "It's a great rivalry. They are the reigning champions and playing them is always a challenge. They won two from us last year, so we'll be trying to change that this season."
Tune into the Charleston Battery Webcast at 6:45 pm
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