Kickers finish regular season in style, make history with 8-0 win
Published on August 12, 2006 under United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Richmond Kickers News Release
Richmond, VA - The Richmond Kickers (13-3-4, 43 points) concluded the regular season by setting a franchise record on Saturday night with the largest margin of victory recorded by the 14-year old club with an 8-0 win over the New Hampshire Phantoms. The USL2 regular season champion came out on all cylinders from the start, and did not ease up as they eliminated the Phantoms from post-season play.
Despite securing the number one seed in the league last week, the Kickers eluded complacency and unleashed a wave of scoring, including a pair of goals each by forward Robert Ssejjemba, midfielder Chris Carrieri and midfielder Mike Burke while newcomer David Bulow and an own goal by New Hampshire rounded out the final 8-0 scoreline.
The Kickers opened tonight's match with three goals in the first 17 minutes. Seconds after kickoff, midfielder Matt Watson passed the ball back to Robert Ssejjemba at the top of the box, and the league's leading scorer fired a right-footed strike into the lower left corner of the net for his 16th goal of the season, just 45 seconds into the match. In the 15th minute, Ssejjemba was instrumental again, volleying a pass to midfielder Chris Carrieri on the left wing. Carrieri dribbled into the box and whipped in a fierce cross through the penalty area that glanced off Phantoms defender Jason Karalexis and deflected into the far corner for an own goal. Two minutes later, Carrieri once again received a pass wide, this time from midfielder Sascha Gorres; however, this time Carrieri went directly to goal an unleashed a low hard left-footed strike that found the back of the net, this time needing no additional help from the Phantoms defense.
New Hampshire created their first dangerous chance in the 22nd minute when forward Tom McNeil fired a curving ball from the center of the box, forcing Kickers goalkeeper Ronnie Pascale to dive to his right to push the ball wide.
The first half set the tone for a high-scoring affair and Richmond continued the forward momentum after the second-half restart, recording five more goals before the final whistle. Ssejjemba registered the Kickers fourth goal of the night in the 55th minute taking a pass from midfielder Mike Burke in the air. After chesting the ball down, he volleyed it over the right shoulder of Tomasso from the penalty area for his 17th goal of the season.
The next 20 minutes resulted in four additional Richmond goals, starting in the 61st minute when Sascha Goerres dropped a pass off for a striding Chris Carrieri, who one-timed the ball with a left-footed blast into the right corner for his second tally of the night.
Five minutes later, recent signee David Bulow tallied his first USL2 goal, the Kickers sixth of the night, after receiving a flick-on header from defender Kelvin Jones inside the box, Bulow turned his defender and unloaded a shot that beat the New Hampshire netminder. Richmond's Burke concluded the upsurge of scoring with the final two goals of the night in the 79th and 82nd minutes. The first occurred after Brian Morris hit a fantastic volley that ricocheted off the post and back to a wide open Burke who tapped in the gift with ease. His second was a bit tougher, after receiving a pass from substitute forward Cristian Neagu wide on the right flank, Burke raced towards the box and ripped home a low hard shot past the Phantoms keeper for the final tally of the night.
Top seeded Richmond await the result of Sunday's final USL2 regular season match between Cincinnati and Western Mass Pioneers in Massachusetts to determine their opponent for next weekend's semi-final playoff series. If Cincinnati are defeated at Western Mass, they will drop to the #4 seed and will play the Kickers in the semi-finals. If this scenario occurs, the Kickers will most likely host the first leg on Friday, August 18th and travel to Cincinnati for the second leg on Sunday, August 20th. If Cincinnati draws or wins tomorrow the Kickers will play the Pittsburgh Riverhounds in the semi-final series with the first leg most likely played at home on Friday, August 18th and the second leg in Pittsburgh on Saturday, August 19th. Please check www.RichmondKickers.com or www.USLsoccer.com for all your updated playoff information.
United Soccer League Championship Stories from August 12, 2006
- Kickers finish regular season in style, make history with 8-0 win - Richmond Kickers
- Riverhounds Clinch Playoff Spot - Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC
- Cincinnati Kings Make Playoffs in Front of Record Crowd - Cincinnati Kings
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