Kickers Win USL League One Regular-Season Title; Defeat Madison 1-0
October 9, 2022 – United Soccer League One (USL1) – Richmond Kickers News Release
MADISON, Wis. – – The Richmond Kickers (14-7-8, 50 pts) won the USL League One regular-season title with a 1-0 win on the road at Forward Madison FC (7-11-11, 32 pts), Saturday night. Owayne Gordon scored the lone goal of the match off of an Ethan Bryant assist in the first half. Akira Fitzgerald earned his sixth clean sheet of the season and the Kickers earned their seventh overall clean sheet of the season.
The Roos claimed their first regular-season title since 2013. Across the club’s 30 seasons, it’s won a regular-season title five different times in 2001, 2006, 2007, 2013, and now 2022.
It’s the next milestone the club has been pushing for since the appointment of Head Coach Darren Sawatzky in November 2019. In each of Sawatzky’s first three seasons, the Kickers have enjoyed winning seasons while making their first playoff appearance since the 2016 season last year.
Now, the Kickers are set to host their first playoff game at City Stadium since 2014. As the top seed, the Roos will have a bye week during the USL League One Quarterfinals, presented by Hisense, before preparing to host a semifinal. A win in the semifinal will see the Kickers host their first championship at City Stadium since 2009 when the club last claimed a league championship.
Riding a seven-match unbeaten streak into Madison, the Kickers needed to earn all three points on the road to avoid extra drama on the final day of the season as second-place Greenville Triumph SC won their match against Charlotte Independence earlier.
The match began very defensively with only one off-target shot taken throughout the first third of the match. Then, in the 35th minute, the Kickers’ suffocating defense created the only goal of the match. Madison restarted play from a throw-in in its own half, and Bryant quickly pounced to steal possession, complete a spinning juke to create space, and lay the ball off to Gordon on the right wing with room to run.
The birthday boy raced past his defensive marker into the box, opted for power, and laced a shot with enough pace that an attempted block from a Madison defender could not prevent it from ricocheting into the back of the net.
With a lead in hand, the Kickers’ defense continued to constrict the Madison attack. Despite the hosts compiling almost 60 percent of the possession over the match and nearly 68 percent of possession in the second half, they never managed a shot on target. The Kickers won a whopping 11 out of 12 tackles, cleared out the ball 12 times, and intercepted the hosts eight times.
The total team effort on defense saw the entire squad earn the Keiter CPA Man of the Match at the end of 90 minutes and change.
Richmond earned their first win in Madison since August 2019 when the Roos took a 1-0 result on its way to claiming its first Henny Derby win. Tonight marks the first time the Kickers have earned points in Madison since June 2021 when they fought to a 0-0 draw with the Mingos.
The Kickers head into the regular-season finale on an eight-match unbeaten streak — its longest since joining USL League One in 2019. The team has scored in 26 of its 29 games this season which leads the league.
The Kickers are set to host second-place Greenville Triumph SC during Fan Appreciation Night, presented by CapTech, on Oct. 15. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. Tickets are available at richmondkickers.com/tickets.
The Kickers will enjoy a bye week before hosting a USL League One semifinal match the weekend of October 29th. The exact date and time for the semifinal match will be announced at a later date. Playoff tickets are currently available for purchase for season-ticket and Kickers+ members. Tickets will be available for purchase for the general population later in the week.
Stay up to date with the latest news from the Kickers at RichmondKickers.com and on the official team app.
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