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USL United Soccer League Championship

USL-2 Final: Charlotte vs Richmond

August 28, 2009 - United Soccer League Championship (USL) News Release


TAMPA, FL -Two of the three most successful franchises in United Soccer Leagues will collide in the USL Second Division Final for the second time in four years on Saturday. Both the Charlotte Eagles and host Richmond Kickers will be playing in their eighth championship match in club history when the two long-time rivals square off in a repeat of the 2006 Final.

The USL Second Division Championship is set for 8:00 pm Saturday, August 29 at University of Richmond Stadium. The match will be broadcast on Fox Soccer Channel at 11:00 pm ET.

For Charlotte, Saturday's contest will be the eighth appearance in a USL-2 Final and the fifth in the past six years. The Kickers championship game history is a bit more diversified with Saturday being their fourth in USL-2, adding to two appearances in the USL First Division Championship and the 1995 championship double of the Premier Development League and US Open Cup.

The only other club in USL with eight championship appearances is Rochester. The Rhinos have played in six USL-1 Finals (three championships) and two in the US Open Cup (one championship).

Charlotte's Tom Steffens has been in command for all but one of the Eagles' eight championship appearances, joining the club as head coach in 1997 and leading them to a second consecutive trip to the final.

Richmond's Leigh Cowlishaw has been a part of every appearance for the Kickers. He has been the coach of the club since 2002, guiding the team to the first of two USL-1 finals in his debut. Saturday will be his fifth final as a head coach. He previously was a member of the Kickers team as a player in their previous three appearances, winning the double in 1995.

The two clubs know one another well, having played in the same league together for the 10th time this year. With success came promotion to USL-1 for both clubs. Richmond made the jump when the then named A-League joined USL in 1997, while Charlotte waited a few more years, moving up the ladder after finally winning the USL-2 title in 2000. The pair spent three years together in USL's top flight, but Richmond found more fortune during their time in USL-1, reaching the Final in 2002 only to miss out on a third title in overtime.

Charlotte returned to USL-2 in 2004 and immediately returned to the championship game only to come up short against Utah in penalties. Richmond, meanwhile, stayed in USL-1 through 2005, reaching the Final in their final campaign and falling in penalties to Seattle in their second shot at the crown. Earlier that year, Charlotte finally won their second title, having reached the championship game a third consecutive time in USL-2 play, by edging regular season champion Western Mass in the tiebreaker.

Re-united in 2006, the duo dominated the league en route to a collision course in the championship game. The Kickers claimed the regular season title with a record of 13-3-4, despite several players remaining in USL-1 with other clubs, and Charlotte was second at 8-4-8. The two won their semifinal series to send Charlotte to a fourth straight USL-2 Final and give Richmond their second straight shot at a title.

The Kickers took the early lead in the 2006 championship when Mike Burke was taken down in the area, leading to a penalty kick that was converted by Robert Ssejjemba nine minutes in. In the 34th minute, a cross into the box from Kevin Knight found Chris Carrieri, who chested it down and fired it off the volley into the lower right corner. Knight later proved to be a defensive hero, clearing the ball off the goal line with a bicycle kick on the hour mark. Late pressure saw a Sam Casey shot go over the crossbar for the Eagles, but a minute later Ross Spencer beat Ronnie Pascale to make it 2-1. Despite a frenzied period of stoppage time, Richmond held on for the victory. Thirteen players from that match will meet again Saturday.

In 2007, the Kickers and Eagles found themselves against one another in the semifinals. Richmond prevailed again 2-1, but needed overtime to reach a third straight championship contest. Matt Watson gave Richmond the lead 14 minutes in, but this time Charlotte found an equalizer through Dustin Swinehart three minutes from time. Nowaf Jaman gave Richmond the victory off the bench in the 110th minute. Fourteen players from the semifinal meeting are set to meet this weekend. Richmond's attempt at at becoming the first repeat championship in USL-2 history, however, fell short as they were topped in sudden death penalty kicks by Harrisburg.

A chance at the 2006 rematch was missed last year when Richmond was knocked out in overtime of their semifinal by Cleveland, 1-0. Charlotte, meanwhile, downed Baltimore 2-1 to reach their sixth USL-2 Final in seven seasons. The championship story, however, finished much like it did in Richmond in 2006, falling behind 2-0 in the first half and scoring their lone goal in a 2-1 loss in the final minutes.

A Richmond victory Saturday would pull them level in championships won by a USL club with Rochester and the former Seattle Sounders, who had won four of their five trips to the USL-1 Final. Charlotte would become just the fourth USL team to have won more than two championships.




United Soccer League Championship Stories from August 28, 2009


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