Saturday, August 10, 2013
RICHMOND, Va. – The Richmond Kickers remained undefeated at City Stadium and teed up a chance for the USL PRO Regular Season Championship with a 5-2 win against the Dayton Dutch Lions on Saturday night. Matthew Delicate and Brian Ownby thrilled the crowd of 4,014 with a pair of goals apiece, with Nate Robinson adding a fifth. Eli Garner and an own goal put the Dutch Lions back into contention but the visitors could not overcome the early deficit as the Kickers took sole possession of first place in the USL PRO standings heading into Wednesday’s regular season home finale.
Looking to rebound after last week’s loss, the Kickers jumped out to an early lead when defender Henry Kalungi played a long ball from midfield in the sixth minute. At the left edge of the box, Delicate chested the ball down, took a touch around his defender and slotted a low shot that pinged off the inside of the far post before rolling over the goal line.
The Dutch Lions nearly leveled the score in the 15th minute when a build up in the midfield saw Shintaro Harada play a short pass to Irakli Khutsidze, who played the ball wide to an unmarked Taylor Lord on the right wing. The defender served a cross into a swarming box, finding Brandon Swartzendruber in the air who headed the ball back to Khutsidze at the top of the box, only to see his effort soar skyward.
The Kickers forced goalkeeper Matt Williams into action three minutes later when Robinson raced to the right touchline to keep the ball in play and fed it through to Joseph Ngwenya. The Zimbabwean international eluded his defender and played the ball back to Robinson who calmly attempted a low driven shot from the top of the box but Williams dove to his right to parry it wide.
Keeping up the offensive pressure with Ownby and Delicate both in hot pursuit, the Kickers’ persistence was rewarded just past the half hour mark when defender Sascha Görres played a cross from the left side, picking out a streaking Ownby at the penalty spot who redirected a diving header to the upper corner.
The home side’s celebrations were short lived, however, as Dayton pulled a goal back less than two minutes later when Khutsidze delivered a through-ball to an awaiting Garner who powered into the box, beat his defender and rocketed a shot into the back of the net.
The flurry of activity did not end there as the Kickers answered back 30 seconds later when Görres’ again made a run down the left wing and lobbed a cross into the mix, this time finding Delicate, who headed the ball just inside the far post from point blank range for his second goal, the Kickers third, of the half.
The action picked up where it left off after the restart when Alex Lee swept the ball away in Dayton territory, playing Robinson open at midfield. The swift playmaker turned goalscorer after barreling through the field and burying a shot from just inside the box.
Hoping to pull a goal back in the 63rd minute, Dayton delivered an inswinging corner into the teeming box from the left side, finding Swartzendruber lurking at the back post. As goalkeeper Andrew Dykstra came out to challenge, Kickers midfielder Mike Callahan saved the day with a clearance off the line.
Seconds later, the Dutch Lions got a break when Greg Preciado raced down the right wing, beat his mark and carried the ball into the box before sending a low cross to the back post. Kalungi threw himself in the line of fire in an attempt to clear the ball but it ricocheted backwards for an own goal.
The Kickers recovered from the misfortune in the 68th minute when Robinson steamrolled down the left flank and centered the ball for Ownby stationed 12 yards out who made no mistake for his second goal of the night.
With 10 minutes remaining in regulation, the Kickers made history when Academy players Evan Fowler and Vaughn Fowler entered the match, each making his first-team debut. The latter nearly added a goal when he got on the end of a Robinson cross at the far post but his shot from four yards was smothered by the Dayton keeper.
The Kickers return to City Stadium to host Orlando City in a showdown for the regular season title on Wednesday, August 14. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. and tickets are on sale now at RichmondKickers.com.