Richmond Kickers News Release - www.richmondkickers.com
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
RICHMOND, VA -- The Richmond Kickers are pleased to host the Charlotte Eagles in the USL Second Division Championship this Saturday, August 29th. Kickoff is slated for 8:00 p.m. at the University of Richmond Stadium. The match will be broadcast on Fox Soccer Channel at 11:00 p.m.
General admission tickets are $15, youth and adult, and are on sale now via RichmondKickers.com. Season Passes, Pro Passes, Sponsor Passes and Flexi-Tickets are not valid for this match. All-Access Passes will be accepted.
Both Richmond and Charlotte advanced to the Championship match after narrow 1-0 victories in the USL-2 Semifinals last weekend.
The #2 seeded Richmond Kickers battled #3 Harrisburg City Islanders to a scoreless draw during regulation and secured a Championship berth courtesy of a 120th minute game-winning goal by USL-2 Goal Scoring Champion Matthew Delicate.
Fourth seeded Charlotte, who advanced to the Semifinals after soaring past #5 seed Real Maryland Monarchs during a 3-1 First Round game, ousted the Regular Season Champions Wilmington Hammerheads during their Semifinal match-up. Scoreless through the majority of the match, Gustavo Bentos struck the lone goal with six minutes remaining as the Eagles claimed their second consecutive Championship berth over the Hammerheads.
The Kickers concluded the 2009 campaign with a regular season record of 11-3-6 and 39 points, good for a first-place tie in the USL Second Division, alongside the Wilmington Hammerheads (12-5-3, 39 points). The Kickers narrowly missed claiming the Regular Season Champion title as the Hammerheads took the tiebreaker based on total wins in league games. Meanwhile, despite struggling to find their rhythm early in the season, the Eagles (8-5-7, 31 points) have peaked at the right time and bring a nine game unbeaten streak to UR Stadium this weekend.
Kickers versus Eagles
This weekend’s game serves as a rematch of the 2006 USL Second Division Championship, during which the Richmond Kickers claimed their second league title with a 2-1 win over the Charlotte Eagles at the University of Richmond Stadium. Two first half goals gave the Kickers an early lead that was unanswered until a 90th minute Charlotte tally to avoid the shutout.
The Kickers battled the Eagles to a 1-0-2 series record this season, conceding late goals in their first two encounters to end in draws before a Fourth of July, 3-0 victory in Richmond. Kickers forward David Bulow hit the target twice while midfielder Gerson dos Santos notched his first professional goal in the first half to take an early lead over their southern rivals. Despite playing the entire second half with just 10 men, following a red card ejection to Kickers defender Yomby William, the Kickers were able to keep Charlotte off the scoreboard, handing the Eagles their last loss of the season.
Two weeks prior, the two teams met in Charlotte when the Kickers allowed the Eagles to rally back from a two-goal deficit to level the score. D.C. United loan John DiRaimondo and midfielder Adrian Bumbut gave the Kickers a two goal lead by the 15th minute. Before the end of the first half, Charlotte forward Jorge Hererra added a tally for the Eagles with the Kickers conceding an own goal in the 60th minute.
The Kickers hosted the defending USL-2 Regular Season Champions in May where they narrowly missed shutting out their long-time foes. The Kickers took an early lead but allowed a late goal to finish with a 1-1 draw. Forward Matthew Delicâte connected on an Evan Harding long ball to put Richmond up 1-0 in the first half. Trailing for the majority of the match, the Eagles buried a free kick from 25 yards with just five minutes to spare in regulation to bring the scoreline even.
Last season, the Eagles edged the Kickers out of a first-place finish in the league. Despite both clubs finishing with 44 points at the top of the standings in 2008, Charlotte claimed the Regular Season title based on a 2-1 head-to-head advantage, pushing the Kickers into second-place. Perennial Championship contenders, Charlotte made their way back to the USL Second Division final in 2008 where they nearly missed taking the crown, suffering a 2-1 loss to the Cleveland City Stars.
The Kickers hold an all-time series advantage of 15-7-6 against the Eagles, with a rivalry dating back to the club’s inception in 1993. The two clubs met in the 2007 USL-2 Semifinals when the Kickers came away with a 2-1 overtime win, boosting Richmond to their third consecutive appearance in a final. In 2006, the Kickers hosted Charlotte in the Championship when the same scoreline fell to the home side in regulation, granting the Kickers their third league title in franchise history.
Players to Watch
Kickers: Veteran netminder Ronnie Pascale (#22) was recently named USL-2 Goalkeeper of the Year for the third time in his career. Pascale backstopped the Kickers to a second place regular season finish and ended the campaign atop two of the three key goalkeeping categories. With a 0.900 goals against average, Pascale was just edged out of the GAA Championship by Harrisburg’s Chase Harrison (0.812), but led the league in wins (11) and tied with Harrison for most shutouts with eight. The longtime Kickers veteran collects the award for the third time, honored in 2006 and 2007 while leading the team to consecutive Championship appearances. A 2009 Defender of the Year Finalist, defender Yomby William (#2) joined the Kickers from the Puerto Rico Islanders this season, making 18 appearances with Richmond. The Cameroon native led the Kickers backline in surrendering only 18 goals over the course of the season. William also chipped in offensively, providing two assists and earned USL-2 Team of the Week honors seven times, more than any other Kickers player. Perennial fan favorite midfielder Mike Burke (#19), finished the 2009 regular season third on the team in scoring with 18 points. Adding seven assists this season, Burke leads the Kickers in the all-time assists category with 55 and is second on the all-time games played list. He garnered All-League First Team honors for the third straight year, leading the Kickers to a first place tie in the USL-2 standings. The 2009 Goal Scoring Champion, Matthew Delicâte (#7) earned All-League First Team honors upon his return to Richmond after spending three seasons with USL-1 side Rochester Rhinos. The 2009 Most Valuable Player Finalist led the team in scoring through the regular season with 13 goals and two assists for 28 points. He recently added his 14th goal of the season with a last second, 120th minute game-winning goal over Harrisburg to boost the Kickers to their third Championship appearance in four seasons. An offensive threat and a defensive force, defender Sascha Görres (#23) garnered USL Second Division All-League Second Team honors after recording five assists on the season while leading the team to eight shutouts. In his fifth season with the Kickers, the native of Flensburg, Germany ranks fifth on the Kickers all-time career assists list with 25 overall.
Eagles: The 2008 USL-2 Most Valuable Player, forward Dustin Swinehart (#18) finished third on the team in scoring in what will be his final season before retiring. Contributing seven goals and three assists during the regular season, the veteran goal-scorer netted the Eagles second goal in the 3-1 First Round win against Real Maryland to secure a berth to the Semifinals. No stranger to UR Stadium, Swinehart made eight appearances on loan with the Kickers USL-1 Finalist squad during the 2005 season and tallied one assist for Richmond that year. Rookie midfielder Amaury Nunes (#13) stormed onto the scoring scene for Charlotte this season, earning USL Second Division All-League Second Team honors for his offensive efforts. Despite starting the season sidelined through injury, the young Brazilian led the Eagles with a team-high nine goals and two assists in just 12 regular season games played. Signed just prior to the 2009 season, Brazilian star midfield, Diego Martins (#12), made an immediate impact for the Eagles, adding 14 points, good for fourth on the team in scoring. A member of eight Championship teams in Brazil, Martins joined the Eagles from Portuguese First Division Club Deportivo das Aves. Midfielder Jorge Herrera (#10) was the lone Eagles representative on the USL Second Division All-League First Team, garnering the honors for the second consecutive season. The midfielder helped the Eagles to the second-highest goal total in the USL-2 this season with 40 goals, putting up six goals and six assists of his own. Towering goalkeeper Steward Ceus (#0) joined the Eagles midseason on loan from Major League Soccer’s Colorado Rapids. Posting 42 saves en route to an unbeaten streak to conclude the regular season, the 6’6” netminder recorded four shutouts in 10 regular season games played and finished the season ranked fourth in the league with a goals against average of 1.000.
Championship Contenders
Over the past 17 seasons, Richmond has qualified for postseason play 15 times, and reaches the title match in 2009 for the fifth time in the past eight seasons. The Kickers last hosted the Championship in 2007, narrowly missing their second consecutive league title after nine rounds of penalties. Richmond has appeared in the USL League Championship on seven occasions (1995, 1996, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009), including winning the Premier League title in 1995, a shoot-out loss to Seattle in the USL First Division final in 2005 and taking the USL Second Division crown against Charlotte in 2006.
Charlotte returns to the Championship match for the eighth time in franchise history (1996, 1997, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009) and for the fifth time in six years. The 2005 USL Second Division Champions previous appearances include a 2004 shoot-out loss to the now-defunct Utah Blitzz and a 2-1 loss to the Richmond Kickers in 2006. Narrowly missing another Championship berth after an overtime loss in the 2007 Semifinal round to the Kickers, the Eagles made their way back into the title match in 2008, where they suffered a 2-1 loss to the Cleveland City Stars.
