USL Game Report

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

RICHMOND, Va. - The Richmond Kickers earned a crucial three points in the USL Regular Season finale Wednesday night with a 2-1 victory against Toronto FC II at City Stadium. The home side claimed the advantage at the half-hour mark through Jason Yeisley, but conceded the equalizer to Luca Uccello five minutes later. George Davis IV buried the second half game-winner and a staunch defense held the visitors to just one shot to keep their hopes of making the USL Playoffs alive.

Eager to take an early lead, the Kickers nearly broke the ice in the 11th minute when midfielder Yudai Imura served a corner kick into the box from the left side, drawing the fray to the far post as Davis rushed into the penalty area and nodded the ball to the opposite upright, forcing a goal-line clearance by Anthony Osorio.

Toronto retaliated minutes later when Molham Babouli raced Davis down the left wing and drew a foul in prime position. His inswinging free kick soared to the far post but Kickers goalkeeper Ryan Taylor punched it from harm’s way.

As the match approached 30 minutes, a sequence of end-to-end action began with a give and go between Yeisley and Imura before Samuel Asante received a square pass in the midfield. However, he quickly gave up possession as Babouli stole the ball and launched it to Jordan Hamilton at the top of the box.

As Hamilton settled the ball and wound up his point blank shot, Braeden Troyer swept it up from under his feet and fed it back through to Asante. Asante played it back to Troyer who rocketed a long ball to the top of the TFC II box, where he found Yeisley in the penalty area. As Toronto goalkeeper Alex Bono rushed off his line, Yeisley slipped the ball under him for a 1-0 lead.

The celebrations were short-lived as Toronto leveled the score five minutes later. A long ball to the left touchline was trapped and played to Edwin Rivas, who tapped a short pass to Uccello at the left edge of the penalty area. The TFC II midfielder drove a low shot through the box that deflected off a Kickers defender before finding into the far right corner.

With the halftime whistle looming, the Kickers nearly reclaimed the advantage when Imura swung a corner kick into a swarming box, and found Roberts at the top of the six-yard area, but his volley rattled the crossbar.

Not to be denied again just after the break, Michael Callahan drew a foul 25 yards out allowing Davis to tee up a free kick, and his right-footed drive made no mistake as it curved around the defensive wall and tucked just inside the left post.

The Kickers tested Bono again three times in a span of six minutes just past the hour-mark. First, under pressure deep on the right sideline, Collin Martin cleared the ball out to Callahan, who switched it to an unmarked Troyer on the left wing. He settled the ball and played Davis through to the top of the penalty area, but his slicing shot was blocked at the far post by the diving goalkeeper.

Then, Martin and Adam Bouchard scrapped for control deep in Toronto’s half before Bouchard blasted it away. Asante intercepted the clearance and centered it for Davis, who played Yeisley to the top of the penalty area. Yeisley turned his defender and whipped a shot on target, but Bono leapt to get a fingertip on the blazing ball to parry it over the crossbar.

Three minutes later, Davis stole the ball off Uccello in the midfield and broke towards goal before splitting defenders with a right-footed blast the bent toward the left post but glanced just wide.

TFC II nearly capitalized on a free kick in the 77th minute when Asante and Fred Owusu Sekyere sandwiched Uccello going up for a header to draw a foul. Babouli served a lofted ball to the six yard box but it look an unpredictable bounce that was just out of reach for an onrushing Daniel Fabrizi.

Then, in the final minute of regulation, Toronto’s second-half substitute Salvador Bernal was taken down on the right wing, 20 yards out. Babouli’s free kick picked out Skylar Thomas who flew into the penalty area but his flicked header whistled just wide to hand the much-needed victory to the Kickers.

The Richmond Kickers will await the results of this weekend’s USL regular season matches as four teams battle for the final two playoff spots, with the contests between the Harrisburg City Islanders and Pittsburgh Kickers and the Charleston Battery and Charlotte Independence set to determine the Kickers' fate.