Sports stats



USL Richmond Kickers

Kickers Battle Rochester to Scoreless Draw

September 5, 2015 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Richmond Kickers News Release


RICHMOND, VA - The Richmond Kickers shut out the league-leading Rochester Rhinos in a scoreless draw at City Stadium Saturday night.

An uneventful first half was marked by just one shot when defender Onua Obasi drew a foul deep on the left wing. Midfielder Jonny Mendoza teed up the free kick and sent a looping cross to the top of the six yard box, finding midfielder Sean Totsch in the air but his header soared skyward.

Later, the Kickers saw their best chance of the half thwarted by the staunch Rochester defense when Michael Callahan battled for the ball in his own half and fed it wide to Luke Mishu who carried it into Rhinos territory. The Kickers defender whipped a cross to a heavily marked Jason Yeisley at the penalty spot but he could not elude his defenders to get a nod on target.

The defensive battled ensued following the halftime break but the Kickers looked for the icebreaker just before the hour mark when Braeden Troyer delivered a throw in on the left wing to Callahan who switched it to Jalen Robinson on the right side. Robinson launched a long ball to Anthony Grant in the box who chested it down for Mishu but the ball was cleared out for a throw in deep in the right corner. Owusu latched onto the delivery and fired a shot to the far post, only to be denied by Rhinos goalkeeper Brandon Miller.

Ten minutes later, Obasi battled for the ball at the top of the box and rocketed a shot under pressure that forced Travis Worra into action as the Kickers goalkeeper leapt to tip the blazing shot over the crossbar.

With 20 minutes remaining in regulation, Rhinos forward Steevan Dos Santos got on the end of a long ball in the box and squared it for an onrushing Alex Dixon but his shot from point blank range rolled just wide of the left post.

The Kickers responded in the 82nd minute when midfielder Sascha Görres, stationed on the left wing, delivered a bending ball to the back post. A poor clearance fell to George Davis IV who recovered and danced along the top of the box before laying it off to Collin Martin who blasted a shot that skimmed inches over the crossbar.

The back-and-forth affair continued two minutes later when Dixon broke through the defense and drew Worra off his line at the right post. With the keeper beaten, he attempted a shot from 10 yards out but Mishu was posted in goal to make a heroic clearance off the line.

With playoff implications hanging in the balance, the Kickers nearly claimed all three points when Davis collected the ball in the midfield and fed it wide to Troyer on the left flank. Troyer played the ball up the touchline to Görres for a give and go that freed Görres at the top of the box to slice the ball across the top of the box. His effort was intercepted but recovered by Grant at the endline who earned a corner. Görres' resulting inswinger was punched away by Miller for another corner. This time, Mishu played it short to Davis who blasted a laser strike from distance that whizzed just wide.

Then, in the last second of stoppage time, the ball pinged around the midfield before being intercepted by Martin who raced down the left sideline and fed a leading ball to Grant who split his defenders 20 yards out and fired a shot to the right post but was denied by Miller who dove to his left to make the block. Lurking at the back post, Davis blasted the follow up shot to the near post but Miller made the last-gasp save to preserve the draw.

The Richmond Kickers travel to take on the Harrisburg City Islanders on Saturday, September 12 before returning home for the regular season finale on Wednesday, September 16 when they host Toronto FC II and Oktoberfest, presented by Draper Aden, at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are on sale now at RichmondKickers.com.

Check out the Richmond Kickers Statistics



United Soccer League Championship Stories from September 5, 2015


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