NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, CFL stats



Richmond Kickers

Richmond 0, Ottawa 1

April 15, 2017 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Richmond Kickers News Release


RICHMOND, VA - (Saturday) - In their first-ever meeting, Ottawa Fury FC (1-0-2) was able to defeat the Richmond Kickers (1-0-3) Saturday afternoon at City Stadium thanks to a powerful first-time shot from midfield by Steevan Dos Santos that beat Richmond's goalkeeper and led to the club's third loss in their last four games.

The first half saw both Richmond and Ottawa trade offensive changes back and forth while maintaining their defensive form throughout the opening 45 minutes of the two teams' first meeting.

The Richmond Kickers worked to get on the board during the 13th minute when midfielder Fred Owusu Sekyere was able to gain possession of the ball on the rush into the Fury's zone and send an aerial ball to forward Alhaji Kamara, who was able to get his head to the ball and direct it toward Ottawa's goal and keeper Callum Irving. The Fury's defense came into action, helping their goalkeeper by clearing the ball away from the goal line, keeping the score at zero for both sides.

Later in the 34th minute, following an Ottawa foul that resulted in an advantage being given to Richmond, Kickers forward Luiz Fernando was able to gain time and space in the Fury's defensive zone and dish the ball over to midfielder Owusu, who was able to take a shot on goal that was met by goalkeeper Irving, who made a diving save to his right, directing the ball out of play and yielding to a corner opportunity for the Kickers that ended in a goal kick for Ottawa.

The final five minutes of the first half saw both sides trade scoring chances as they worked to break the 0-0 tie.

In the 41st minute, an aerial ball sent into Richmond's 18-yard box was met by the head of Ottawa forward Ryan Williams, who was able to find the space needed to get a headed scoring opportunity toward the Kickers' goal and keeper Matt Turner, but that shot went just above the upper-left corner of the goal and out of play.

As the first half entered stoppage time, Richmond attempted to get on the board as the Kickers' offensive pressure resulted in Richmond defender Maxim Tissot being able to fire a quick shot on the Ottawa goal that bounced off the left post of the Fury goal mouth and back into play before being cleared by Ottawa in the closing moments of the first half, keeping the game scoreless as the teams entered the second half.

As play continued in the second half, both teams continued their efforts to break through in scoring, including a chance in the 75th minute for the Kickers as midfielder Samuel Asante was able to take a headed chance thanks to an aerial ball from defender Tissot, but Irving was able to make a quick save to keep Richmond off the board and clear the ball from the Fury's defending zone.

Minutes later, it was the Fury who opened the scoring during the 79th minute as a headed ball in midfield found Ottawa forward Steevan Dos Santos, who was able to fire a first-time shot toward the Richmond goal that was beyond the reach of goalkeeper Matt Turner, beating him from above as the ball bounced off the crossbar and into the back of the Kickers net, propelling the Fury to a one-goal lead with less than 11 minutes left in the second half.

The Kickers tried to strike back in the final minutes of the half and into stoppage time, with a shot by Finnlay Wyatt going just wide of Ottawa's goal and out of play, but Richmond was unable to level the score, falling to Ottawa by a final score of 1-0 in their first of two meetings during the 2017 USL season.

Richmond will remain at City Stadium for their next game as they host the Pittsburgh Riverhounds at City Stadium on Saturday, April 22 with a 5 p.m. kickoff before going on the road on Saturday, April 29 to face the Tampa Bay Rowdies at Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Check out the Richmond Kickers Statistics

• Discuss this story on the United Soccer League Championship message board...

United Soccer League Championship Stories from April 15, 2017


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central