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USL United Soccer League Championship

Louisville City FC, NYRB II Meet in Key Week 25 Bout

September 4, 2015 - United Soccer League Championship (USL) News Release


TAMPA, Fla. - The upper half of the USL's Eastern Conference standings features several important Week 25 matches, all with obvious playoff implications. Second-place Louisville City FC is on the verge of clinching a first-round bye and goes up against a surging New York Red Bulls II side that is third in the East and looking to solidify a postseason berth.

Elsewhere in the East, the fifth-place Richmond Kickers host the first-place Rochester Rhinos on Saturday at City Stadium. The Charleston Battery, fresh off a 2-0 road victory against Richmond to end a six-game winless streak, travel to Pittsburgh to face the Riverhounds.

In the Western Conference, the I-405 Derby carries some extra weight to it as Orange County Blues FC is in strong form, going up against local rivals the LA Galaxy II. The Blues have won five of their past six games, but they have never earned a victory against Los Dos.

GAMES TO WATCH

Richmond Kickers vs. Rochester Rhinos

Saturday, 7 p.m. ET, City Stadium

The Kickers are looking to rebound from a 2-0 home loss to the Charleston Battery in Week 24. Richmond is fifth in the East at 9-7-9 and 36 points, even in points with the Charlotte Independence who have a game in hand. A strong result is vital for the Kickers to stay above the playoff cutline. Rochester was the first club to earn a berth in the 2015 USL Playoffs, and the Rhinos are on the verge of clinching the outright regular-season title. The Rhinos can win the regular-season crown with a win against Richmond combined with a Louisville City FC draw or loss to the New York Red Bulls II. Rochester also can take the regular-season title if Louisville loses and the Rhinos garner a point against the Kickers. A potential subplot for Rochester is goalkeeper Brandon Miller's continued play. This marks his first opportunity to break the USL's single-season shutout record. Miller is currently even with former Rhino Kristian Nicht (2012) and former Orlando City SC goalkeeper Miguel Gallardo (2011) with 11 shutouts in a single season. (Preview)

New York Red Bulls II vs. Louisville City FC

Saturday, 8:30 p.m. ET, Red Bull Arena

Louisville is one of only five USL teams to post five or more victories on the road with a 5-2-4 record. City travels for its final three regular-season games, starting with NYRB II. Second-place Louisville (14-5-6, 48 points) has distanced itself from the rest of the East pack and is on the verge of securing a first-round bye in the postseason, needing only a point in its remaining games. New York (11-8-6, 39 points) is third and leads a pack of teams vying for the final four playoff spots in the conference. The Red Bulls II are 5-1-2 in their past eight games, posting three clean sheets during that stretch. But now NYRB II goes up against the top offense in the USL in Louisville (52 goals in 25 games) and the league's top goal scorer. The USL's newest single-season goal-scoring record holder Matt Fondy has 21 tallies this season with City. Fondy moved past Orlando City SC's Kevin Molino (20 goals in 2014) and OKC Energy FC's Danni König (20 currently this season), and he is third all-time in USL history with 37 goals. Fondy is averaging one goal per 126 minutes in his USL career. (NYRB II's Bonomo Impresses Out of Chute)

Orange County Blues FC vs. LA Galaxy II

Saturday, 10:15 p.m. ET, Anteater Stadium

Local rivals LA Galaxy II (13-9-3, 42 points) and Orange County (12-9-3, 39 points) are still searching for a postseason berth, while the Blues are attempting to defeat Los Dos for the first time in the series. They last played to a 1-1 draw on July 16 at StubHub Center as Orange County's Chris Cortez and LA's Ariel Lassiter exchanged first-half goals. Orange County is coming off a strong 3-1 victory against the Portland Timbers 2, where Cortez tallied the game's opening two goals. LA dropped a 2-1 decision to Arizona United SC last week as a shorthanded United side found a winner from Schillo Tshuma. Orange County's 12 wins are a club record, with eight of them coming at home. The Galaxy II lead the USL in road victories with seven, posting a 7-5-0 record away from StubHub. (Blues Eager to Face Galaxy II)

MILESTONES

- Louisville City FC forward Matt Fondy broke the USL single-season goal-scoring record, previously held by Orlando City SC's Kevin Molino (20 goals in 2014), scoring his 19th, 20th and 21st goals during a 4-0 victory against the Harrisburg City Islanders on Sept. 2. Fondy will try and extend his record against the New York Red Bulls II on Saturday. On Fondy's heels is OKC Energy FC forward Danni König (20 goals), whose side goes up against Tulsa Roughnecks FC on Sunday.

- Rochester Rhinos goalkeeper Brandon Miller shares the USL single-season record with 11 shutouts this season, matching Kristian Nicht's total for the Rhinos in 2012 and Miguel Gallardo's mark for Orlando City SC in 2011. Miller will have his first chance to break the record when Rochester faces the host Richmond Kickers on Saturday at City Stadium.

- Harrisburg City Islanders goalkeeper Nick Noble became the 17th player to hit the 100-game mark in regular-season action Wednesday night. Wilmington Hammerheads FC defender Tom Parratt is at 99 appearances and could reach 100 on Saturday against Charlotte.

- Louisville City FC's Bryan Burke leads the USL with 10 assists, followed by Pittsburgh Riverhounds midfielder Kevin Kerr and Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC midfielder Luke Vercollone who have nine assists each. They are chasing Matthew Dallman's single-season record of 12 in 2013.

- The Richmond Kickers' Jason Yeisley is 24 minutes shy of 7,000 in regular-season play in the USL. He could eclipse that mark on Saturday against Rochester.

- Others nearing significant four-digit milestone minute totals include Wilmington Hammerheads FC's Tom Parratt (5,996), Charleston's Jarad van Schaik (5,917) and Zach Prince (4,972) and Arizona United SC's Jose Cuevas (4,948). Harrisburg's Neil Shaffer and OKC Energy FC's Cyprian Hedrick both passed the 5,000-minute mark Wednesday night.

OTHER NEWS AND NOTES

- The East's fourth-place Charleston Battery (10-6-9, 39 points) face the seventh-place Pittsburgh Riverhounds (10-9-5, 35 points) on Saturday at Highmark Stadium. Both teams are coming off strong wins, with Pittsburgh shutting out Louisville City FC 1-0 on Aug. 29 and Charleston ending its six-game winless streak with a 2-0 victory against the Richmond Kickers this past week. The Riverhounds will be playing without their scoring leader Rob Vincent. The midfielder is serving a one-game suspension because of yellow card accumulation. Vincent is third in the USL with 18 goals in 24 games, while also contributing five assists. (Preview; Battery Boosted, Focused on Riverhounds)

- Real Monarchs SLC, winner of three consecutive matches, hits the road to face Arizona United SC on Saturday at Scottsdale Stadium. United posted only two victories in the team's first 23 games this season. Arizona won the only previous meeting on June 27, earning a 2-1 victory on Scott Morrison's last-minute goal. Arizona's Long Tan ranks fourth in the USL with 13 goals this season. (Monarchs Continue Late Surge)

- OKC Energy FC (12-6-7, 43 points) saw its nine-game unbeaten streak come to a close when it fell 2-0 to Real Monarchs SLC on Wednesday. OKC, led by Danni König's 20 goals, hopes to return to its winning ways when it faces in-state rival Tulsa Roughnecks FC (10-11-6, 36 points) on Sunday. Tulsa is preparing for its final regular-season match of the season. The seventh-place Roughnecks need to win to mathematically stay in the postseason picture, but every team above them has three or four games remaining heading into the weekend.

HOW TO FOLLOW

Every game of the 2015 USL season can be seen live, free and in HD on YouTube (www.Youtube.com/USL), with updates from throughout the league also available via Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

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