Harrisburg City Islanders News Release -- www.cityislanders.com
Friday, July 12, 2013
HARRISBURG, Pa. – When the Harrisburg City Islanders meet the Richmond Kickers on Saturday night at 7 p.m. ET at Skyline Sports Complex, it will be one of the most important games of the season for both teams.
The Islanders and Richmond currently sit two points away from each other in the standings. Entering the weekend's action, the Islanders are in third place, and the Kickers are in second, with both teams looking to make up ground on league-leader Orlando City. This game shows perfectly how close all the teams in the league are to each other, and how every game down the stretch can make the difference in playoff seeding.
Richmond has not lost a game this season. They enter Friday night's game against the Rochester Rhinos with a record of 9-0-6, collecting points in every single one of their games thus far this season. The Kickers' top scorer Joseph Ngweyna has a total of 17 points on the season, with seven goals. That only puts him at seventh in the league, but the Kickers biggest strength so far has been defensively, where the lead the league with only 11 goals conceded in 15 games and seven shutouts between goalkeepers Andrew Dykstra and Ryan Jones.
One of those shutouts came against the Islanders in a 2-0 win at City Stadium on May 24. This was during a time where the Islanders were trying to find their footing again after their scoring slowed down. Since then, the Islanders have been playing well all over the field. Sainey Touray, the league’s second-leading scorer with 27 points and 11 goals. The Islanders have found their scoring since the last match in Richmond, which is the last and only time the Isles have been shut out this season.
The Islanders enter Saturday game looking to break out of a funk, however, as they have lost three of their last four outings. The Los Angeles Blues took a 4-2 victory in Harrisburg's last outing on Wednesday night, and the Islanders will be aiming to tighten up a defense that has conceded 11 goals in its past four games.
Prior to kickoff, former Islander Captain and local Red Land High School standout Dustin Bixler will have his Harrisburg City Islander No. 3 jersey retired. The presentation will occur on the field at Skyline Sports Complex, City Island, Harrisburg at approximately 6:40 pm. In addition to Dustin Bixler’s jersey retirement the Islanders will announce their All-Decade Team at half time.
Fans should arrive early as Stroehmann Bread is offering a City Islanders and Stroehmann Bread t-shirt giveaway. Quantities are limited.
For information on the City Islanders please visit www.cityislanders.com or call (717)-441-GOAL.