Kickers Finally Move Up Top

For most of the season the Richmond Kickers have been chasing the Orlando City Lions for first place in the USL PRO league.

Orlando City got off to a fast start, but has struggled of late.

Meanwhile, the Kickers kept kicking, and continued not to lose games.

In fact, 22 games into the season they still have not suffered a loss, and finally they have passed Orlando City in the league standings. Twenty regular season games without a loss is a new USL PRO record.

They held first place briefly after winning 1-0 in Harrisburg, but a win in Canada put the Kickers back on top by two points.

That came in game #22, a 2-1 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps FC Reserves in Vancouver, Canada. It came at the tail end of a month-long series of road games.

[show_disconnected][show_to accesslevel=’Subscriber’] The Kickers are 12-0-8 in regular season play, good for 44 points, two more than the 12-2-6 Lions. The other two Richmond games came in Lamar Hunt US Open Cup play where the Kickers were eliminated by D.C. United on penalty kicks after a draw.

Franchise all-time leading scorer Matthew Delicâte and defender Conor Shanosky scored on either side of the half to give the road-weary Kickers the lead for the majority of the match before Whitecaps forward Kekuta Manneh pulled a goal back in stoppage time.

The goal was the first given up by the Richmond defense after five straight road shutouts.

The Kickers have benefitted from a number of loan agreements with D.C. United, including goalkeeper Andrew Dykstra, who was the goalkeeper for Charleston a year ago when the Battery made their run to the league title.

They have also received a boost from former Virginia Cavalier Brian Ownby, who has been with the club on loan from the Houston Dynamo.

In fact, Ownby was named Player of the Week by the USL PRO after scoring and playing a key role in a comeback 2-2 draw against Phoenix FC and then scoring the game-winner in a 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Blues.

Against the Blues, David Bulow scored a penalty kick for the first Richmond goal, and Ownby scored the winner in the 76th minute.

Michael Seaton, only 17 years old, is another D.C. United loan that has paid off for the Kickers. He scored four goals in his first 11 professional games with Richmond.

His first goal came in an early-season with over the Wilmington Hammerheads, just two days after his 17th birthday.

“This is so much better than working somewhere in a 9-tp-5 job,” Seaton told a reporter for the Richmond Times Dispatch. “I love it. I’m enjoying it to the fullest.”

Seaton, a native of Spanish Town, Jamaica, moved to Capitol Heights, MD,, when he was seven years old. He played two years in D.C. United’s Academy program before signing in January with the MLS Club.

Even though he is by far, the youngest member of the Kickers, Seaton has earned a spot in the starting lineup.

The Kickers recently received Collin Martin on loan from D.C. United. A native of Chevy Chase, MD, Martin played at Wake Forest last year as a freshman, and only recently decided to pass up his remaining college eligibility to turn professional.

He started 15 times last fall for the Demon Deacons, while playing in 22 games. He was named to the ACC All-Freshman team.

Richmond will get back on home turf on July 28 when they host VSI Tampa Bay FC at City Stadium.