Charlotte Eagles News Release -- www.charlotteeagles.com
Thursday, April 10, 2014
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The Charlotte Eagles will face the 2013 USL PRO Regular Season Champion Richmond Kickers this Saturday night at Queens Sports Complex at 7 p.m. ET. Tickets are available by visiting charlotteeagles.ticketleap.com, and all of the action will be streamed live on YouTube.
Charlotte fell in its season-opener against the Dayton Dutch Lions last Friday. Brock Granger scored the only goal in the match as Dayton earned a 1-0 victory over the Eagles. Eight new players made their debut for the Eagles against the Dutch Lions, including new goalkeeper Doug Herrick, who made seven saves in his pro debut.
The Eagles will face a familiar face on Saturday as Samuel Asante returns to Charlotte as a member of the Kickers after playing for the Eagles in 2013. Asante, who played in 21 of the Eagles' matches last season, tallied one assist in the 2013 season before moving on in the offseason.
Charlotte and Richmond's last meeting came in the semifinals of the 2013 USL PRO Playoffs, where the Eagles came out on top with a 2-1 victory over the Kickers through goals by Nathan Thornton and Christian Ramirez. The victory propelled the Eagles into the 2013 USL PRO Championship Game against Orlando City.
The Kickers are currently third in the league standings with four points after two games. After playing Charleston to a 2-2 draw away from City Stadium they returned home last Saturday and defeated the Pittsburgh Riverhounds 3-1 in front of 3,507 people.
Richmond, which has a partnership with Major League Soccer's D.C. United, currently has four players on loan from the club, including forwards Michael Seaton, Cristiano Francois, defender Jalen Robinson, and goalkeeper Joe Willis. Seaton took advantage of D.C. United's partnership with Italian Serie A club Inter Milan and trained with the Italian side during the offseason.
The Kickers are led offensively by George Davis IV and Kyle Porter,who each have a pair of goals this season.