As the 2016 USL regular season heads toward an end, the Richmond Kickers have finally found their footing. The club’s form, including a 1-0 victory against Orlando City B this past Saturday at City Stadium, has catapulted them into the top three in the Eastern Conference as one of the hottest teams in the entire league.

“The recent month or two have been great,” Kickers forward Brian Ownby told USLSoccer.com. “We’ve been on a little streak of five or six wins in a row. We tied a couple, but we’re getting points with this nice run at the end of the season. Heading toward the playoffs you want to be clicking. We went through a rough spell about a third of the way through the season. That happens. You’re not going to be perfect all season. This run has been great, though. It has us confident.”

During that first third of the season it took tinkering from Coach Leigh Cowlishaw to overcome what defender Hugh Roberts termed “mishaps.”

“We have a different lineup compared to the beginning of the season,” Roberts said. “We’ve had a lot of players through many games. Despite mishaps, we’ve stuck together. We knew we were a good team. We’re happy things are starting to click toward the end of the year.

“Defense has been key. We have that chemistry from last year. We have a mentality of doing well no matter what the offense is doing.”

Now in his third season with the club, the continuity Roberts, veteran center back William Yomby and fullback Braeden Troyer bring to the team has been at the heart of the club’s defensive success. The trio sit as the top three in minutes played for the side this season, with a rotating cast that has included D.C. United loanee Luke Mishu and Alex Lee taking the other fullback spot.

There has also been a rotating cast in goal after the injury early in the season to Ryan Taylor. Andrew Dykstra was between the sticks on Saturday, but six different goalkeepers have seen action with the club as Richmond has maintained its defensive stability. The side sits third in the USL with a cumulative 0.79 goals-against average going into Wednesday night’s game with longtime rival the Charleston Battery.

As good as the Kickers have been, the side stumbled at times at the beginning of the year. The players were not concerned, as they leaned on the history of the club as one of the cornerstones in the USL’s history to help power them through the disappointing start.

“Because of the organization’s history, there’s a bit of pressure,” Roberts said. “We know what the expectations are and what the standard of this organization is. We know because of the organization’s history that things would come together and we’d start winning.”

With the side now on a nine-game undefeated streak that has included seven victories, Roberts, Ownby and their teammates have gained the proverbial team chemistry that is a requirement for not only making the playoffs, but also having a chance at a championship. 

“We knew it was going to be a much more difficult year than last year,” Ownby said. “The league expanding makes it harder. We knew during the pre-season we had a solid foundation. We just had to get together and get confidence in one another. We lost some games this year we should have won. We wouldn’t want to trade anything [at this point], going forward we have a good team that can compete for the championship. I’m looking forward to seeing what this team can do for the rest of the year.”

For Ownby, a successful season would mean more to him than just a trophy or for him, his teammates or the team. The former MLS first-rounder began his soccer career in the Kickers’ academy system as a teenager and grew up in Richmond itself.

“I used to come to Kickers games when I was 10, 12 years old,” Ownby said. “Now I’m playing here. My friends and family always come out and support me on the weekend. A championship would mean a lot because I’m from here. We hope to bring [a championship] back here this year.”