Kickers’ Unbeaten Streak Ends At 24
“The Streak” had to end sometimes. Perhaps it was fitting that it ended in Charleston, SC, against the rival Battery.
For 24 consecutive games the Richmond Kickers did not lose. The greatest start in USL PRO history, and club history as well.
It came to an end with a 5-2 loss at Blackbaud Stadium, dropping the Kickers to 13-1-9. They ran out the final three games of the regular season and take a 15-1-10 record into postseason play as the #1 seed.
From this point on, those games have very little meaning. It’s[show_disconnected][show_to accesslevel=’Subscriber’] now one and done, three wins away from a league championship.
No one puts together a regular season record like the Kickers’ without a number of dramatic late game goals that turned a pending loss into a draw, or a draw into a victory. Richmond had its share of those.
The Kickers also played through the season with injuries to several key players. Most have recovered and are relatively healthy going into the playoffs.
Richmond also benefitted from the loan of several players from MLS, most from D.C. United and Brian Ownby from Houston.
Matt Delicâte came into the season with an injury, and struggled to regain form for most of the summer. He is the Kickers’ all-time leading scorer, but came on down the stretch to provide key goals.
He had a pair of goals in an early game against the Dayton Lions, and then struck twice in a five-minute span against the Lions to claim a sweep against Dayton.
Those last two earned Delicâte selection as USL PRO Player of the Week to close out the regular season.
Goalkeeper Andrew Dykstra, one of the players loaned by D.C. United, made the USL PRO team with Delicâte after making five saves in a 2-0 shutout of second-place Orlando City.
The Kickers, at home as the playoffs begin, face a Dayton team that it has never lost to, going 7-0-1 in its previous meetings in the league and U.S. Open Cup.
The Kickers’ success was fueled by the stingiest defense in USL PRO, which only conceded 24 goals in 26 games, and a balanced attack that saw no-one score double-digit goals, but six players score at least four goals.
Joseph Ngwenya led the way with nine goals and five assists, with Ownby recording seven goals and six assists on loan from the Houston Dynamo.
Second-seeded Orlando City will host #7 Pittsburgh River-hounds, and #3 Charleston will be at home against the #6 Los Angeles Blues.
Harrisburg City Islanders, seeded #4 will host the #5 Charlotte Eagles.
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