2017 Richmond Kickers season

The 2017 Richmond Kickers season was the club's twenty-fifth season of existence. It was also the Kickers' 10th season playing in the second-tier of American soccer, and their first season in the second division since 2005. The Kickers played in the United Soccer League for their sixth straight season.

Richmond Kickers

2017 season
Owner	RKYSC
Head coach	Leigh Cowlishaw
Stadium	City Stadium
USL	East: 14th Overall: 26th
USL Playoffs	Did not qualify
U.S. Open Cup	Second round
Top goalscorer	League: Alhaji Kamara (4) All: Alhaji Kamara (4)
Highest home attendance	8,021 vs. Harrisburg (Mar 25 – USL)
Lowest home attendance	850 vs. Christos (May 17 – USOC)
Average home league attendance	4,665
Biggest win	RIC 3–1 CHS (8/26) ORL 0–2 RIC (9/7)
Biggest defeat	CLT 3–0 RIC (9/2)
Home colors Away colors
← 2016 2018 →

For only the third time in the club's history, the Kickers failed to qualify for the playoffs. It was Richmond's first season since 2003 where they failed to qualify. The Kickers amassed a club low, 25 goals in the 32-match season. The club finished 14th out of 15 teams in the USL's Eastern Conference, and finished 26th in the 30-team league. The Kickers also suffered a second round exit in the U.S. Open Cup, losing to amateur outfit, Christos FC. It was the Kickers' shortest spell in the Open Cup since 2009. Off the field, the Kickers enjoyed their highest ever league attendance, averaging 4,665 fans per match.

Background

Main article: 2016 Richmond Kickers season

The Kickers finished the 2016 season ranked seventh in the Eastern Conference, and earned a berth into the 2016 USL Playoffs. Richmond lost in their first round match-up to Louisville City. Midfielder Yudai Imura lead the Kickers with 10 goals in league play and 11 goals across all competitions.

Transfers

Transfers in

No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	Age	Moving from	Type	Transfer window	Ends	Transfer fee	Source
9	MF		Oliver	24	Puerto Rico FC	Free	Pre-season	2018	Free	[1]
1	GK		Marcel DeBellis	25	Ottawa Fury	Free	Pre-season	2018	Free	[2]
8	DF		Evan Lee	23	FC Cincinnati	Free	Pre-season	2018	Free	[3]
16	MF		Patrick McCann	26	Sligo Rovers	Free	Pre-season	2018	Free	[3]
22	GK		Alex Wimmer	26	Karlslunds IF	Free	Pre-season	2018	Undisclosed	[3]
15	DF		Mallan Roberts	26	Ottawa Fury	Free	Pre-season	2018	Undisclosed	[4]
12	MF		Finnlay Wyatt	22	Longwood University	Free	Pre-season	2018	Free	[4]
21	MF		Chris Durkin	17	D.C. United	Loan	Pre-season	2017	Undisclosed	[5]
45	FW		Alhaji Kamara	23	D.C. United	Loan	Pre-season	2017	Undisclosed	[5]
24	GK		Eric Klenofsky	22	D.C. United	Loan	Pre-season	2017	Undisclosed	[5]
3	DF		Chris Odoi-Atsem	21	D.C. United	Loan	Pre-season	2017	Undisclosed	[5]
23	MF		Maxim Tissot	25	D.C. United	Loan	Pre-season	2017	Undisclosed	[5]
20	FW		Mikey Minutillo	25	07 Vestur	Free	Mid-season	2018	Free	[6]
29	DF		Chris Korb	29	D.C. United	Loan	Mid-season	2017	Undisclosed	[7]
70	FW		Franck Tayou	27	San Antonio FC	Free	Mid-season	2018	Undisclosed	[8]

Transfers out

No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	Age	Moving to	Type	Transfer window	Transfer fee	Source
8	DF		Hugh Roberts	24	Bethlehem Steel	Free	Pre-season	Free	[9]
22	MF		Brian Ownby	26	Louisville City FC	Free	Pre-season	Free
26	MF		Miguel Aguilar	23	D.C. United	End of loan	Pre-season
27	MF		Collin Martin	22	D.C. United	End of loan	Pre-season
32	MF		Scott Thomsen	23	Orlando City B	Free	Pre-season	Free
36	GK		Ronnie Pascale	40		Retired	Pre-season	Retired

Non-competitive

Preseason exhibitions

Richmond Kickers v William & Mary Tribe

March 2	Richmond Kickers	2–1	William & Mary Tribe	Bensley
19:15 EST	Imura 26' Eskay 69' (pen.)		Bustamante 43'	Stadium: Ukrop Park
Note: Postponed from March 1 due to adverse weather

Richmond Kickers v Virginia Cavaliers

March 4 Pro-Am Challenge	Richmond Kickers	1–1	Virginia Cavaliers	Bensley
17:00 EST	Oliver 24'		Nus 45'	Stadium: Ukrop Park

North Carolina FC v Richmond Kickers

March 8	North Carolina FC	3–0	Richmond Kickers	Cary
11:00 EST	Fondy 11' (pen.) Molano 50' Orlando 88'			Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park

Richmond Kickers v North Carolina FC

March 15	Richmond Kickers	Cancelled	North Carolina FC	Richmond
19:00 EST				Stadium: City Stadium

Richmond Kickers v VCU Rams

March 19	Richmond Kickers	1–2	VCU Rams	Richmond
17:00 EST	Grant 49'	Report	Shimazaki 17' Fatton 60'	Stadium: City Stadium

Midseason exhibitions

Richmond Kickers v Swansea City

July 19	Richmond Kickers	1–2	Swansea City	Richmond
19:30 EST	Tayou 69'	Report	McBurnie 42' (pen.) Abraham 80' Carroll  81'	Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 8,119 Referee: Christopher Spivey

Competitive

USL

Main article: 2017 USL season

Standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
11	Harrisburg City Islanders	32	10	7	15	28	47	−19	37
12	Saint Louis FC	32	9	9	14	35	48	−13	36
13	Pittsburgh Riverhounds	32	8	12	12	33	42	−9	36
14	Richmond Kickers	32	8	8	16	24	36	−12	32
15	Toronto FC II	32	6	7	19	27	54	−27	25

Source: 2017 USL standings
Rules for classification: 1) total wins; 2) total goal differential; 3) total goals scored; 4) points earned against top four Conference finishers; 5) disciplinary points; 6) coin toss or drawing of lots

Results

Richmond Kickers v Harrisburg City Islanders

March 25 1	Richmond Kickers	1–0	Harrisburg City Islanders	Richmond, Virginia
17:00 EDT	Shanosky 51' (Sekyere) Troyer  66' Kamara  79'	Report	Wheeler 14' Benbow  85'	Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 8,021 Referee: Jose Carlos Rivero

New York Red Bulls II v Richmond Kickers

April 1 2	New York Red Bulls II	1–0	Richmond Kickers	Montclair, New Jersey
16:00 EDT	Valot  41' Lewis 69'	Report	Durkin  48' Lee  77'	Stadium: MSU Soccer Park at Pittser Field Attendance: 806 Referee: Henrik Karlsson

Richmond Kickers v Louisville City

April 8 3	Richmond Kickers	0–1	Louisville City	Richmond, Virginia
17:00 EDT	E. Lee  25' A. Lee  44'	Report	Davis IV  10' 81' (pen.)	Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 7,603 Referee: Danielle Chesky

Richmond Kickers v Ottawa Fury

April 15 4	Richmond Kickers	0–1	Ottawa Fury	Richmond, Virginia
17:00 EDT		Report	McEleney  34' Barden  59' Campbell  68' Dos Santos 79'	Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 4,974 Referee: Kevin Broadley

Richmond Kickers v Pittsburgh Riverhounds

April 22 5	Richmond Kickers	2–1	Pittsburgh Riverhounds	Richmond, Virginia
17:00 EDT	Sekyere 15' Kamara 47'	Report	Hollingsworth 60'	Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 1,567 Referee: Mark Gorak

Tampa Bay Rowdies v Richmond Kickers

April 29 6	Tampa Bay Rowdies	1–0	Richmond Kickers	St. Petersburg, Florida
19:30 EDT	Lowe  40' Brown 45'	Report	Sekyere  86'	Stadium: Al Lang Stadium Attendance: 4,829 Referee: Elvis Osmanovic

Richmond Kickers v FC Cincinnati

May 6 7	Richmond Kickers	1–1	FC Cincinnati	Richmond, Virginia
19:00 EDT	Sekyere 7'	Report	McLaughlin 70' Delbridge  86'	Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 4,008 Referee: Charles Murphy

Richmond Kickers v Harrisburg City Islanders

May 13 8	Richmond Kickers	0–0	Harrisburg City Islanders	Richmond, Virginia
19:00 EDT	Lee  26' Sekyere  35'	Report	Mensah  88'	Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 3,903 Referee: Kevin Broadley

Rochester Rhinos v Richmond Kickers

May 21 9	Rochester Rhinos	1–1	Richmond Kickers	Rochester, New York
16:05 EDT	Beresford  16' Forbes 32' Farrell  73' Felix  85'	Report	Gonzalez 45' Asante  81'	Stadium: Capelli Sport Stadium Attendance: 2,003 Referee: Henrik Karlsson

Toronto FC II v Richmond Kickers

May 24 10	Toronto FC II	0–0	Richmond Kickers	Vaughan, Ontario
12:00 EDT	Pereira  27' Osorio  60' Fraser  85'	Report	Shanosky  29'	Stadium: Ontario Soccer Centre Attendance: 1,074 Referee: Silviu Petrescu

Ottawa Fury v Richmond Kickers

May 27 11	Ottawa Fury	5–3	Richmond Kickers	Ottawa, Ontario
14:00 EDT	Seoane 10', 38' Rozeboom 70' Hume 74' Sanon 90'	Report	Gonzalez  9' Kamara 34', 49', 58' Durkin  46' Jane  84'	Stadium: TD Place Stadium Attendance: 4,294 Referee: Carol Chenard

Richmond Kickers v New York Red Bulls II

June 3 12	Richmond Kickers	0–1	New York Red Bulls II	Richmond, Virginia
19:00 EDT	Durkin  67'	Report	Abidor  32' Allen 38'	Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 6,267 Referee: Calin Radosav

Charleston Battery v Richmond Kickers

June 10 13	Charleston Battery	1–0	Richmond Kickers	Charleston, South Carolina
19:00 EDT	Portillo 26' (pen.) Woodbine  61' Mueller  82'	Report	Shanosky  12'	Stadium: MUSC Health Stadium Attendance: 2,526 Referee: Gustavo Solorio

Richmond Kickers v Tampa Bay Rowdies

June 17 14	Richmond Kickers	1–1	Tampa Bay Rowdies	Richmond, Virginia
19:00 EDT	Tayou 90+3'  90+4'	Report	Boden  42' Savage  44' Lowe  60' Schäfer 64'	Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 4,034 Referee: J. T. Alukonis

Richmond Kickers v Charlotte Independence

June 24 15	Richmond Kickers	0–2	Charlotte Independence	Richmond, Virginia
19:00 EDT	Luiz Fernando  47' Durkin  86'	Report	Martínez 45' (pen.), 57'	Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 4,423 Referee: Greg Dopka

Bethlehem Steel v Richmond Kickers

July 1 16	Bethlehem Steel	1–1	Richmond Kickers	Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
16:00 EDT	Jones 51' Burke  65'  90' Roberts  66' Trusty  90'	Report	Luiz Fernando 40' Troyer  45' Jane  54'	Stadium: Goodman Stadium Attendance: 3,006 Referee: Andrew Musashe

FC Cincinnati v Richmond Kickers

July 9 17	FC Cincinnati	2–0	Richmond Kickers	Cincinnati, Ohio
18:00 EDT	Djiby 3' Quinn 90' (pen.) Nicholson  72' Bahner  78'	Report	Sekyere  87'	Stadium: Nippert Stadium Attendance: 21,769 Referee: Jon Freemon

Harrisburg City Islanders v Richmond Kickers

July 15 18	Harrisburg City Islanders	1–0	Richmond Kickers	Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
19:00 EDT	Mensah 76' Mohamed  16' Wilson  63' Calvano  71'	Report		Stadium: FNB Field Attendance: 3,289 Referee: Brandon Smith

Richmond Kickers v Bethlehem Steel

July 22 19	Richmond Kickers	3–2	Bethlehem Steel	Richmond, Virginia
19:45 EDT	Oliver 46'  58' Luiz Fernando 47' Asante 87' Wyatt  90'	Report	Jones 39' Tribbett 69' Marquez  76'	Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 2,921 Referee: Danielle Chesky
Note: Game delayed by 45 minutes due to oppressive heat

Charlotte Independence v Richmond Kickers

July 26 20	Charlotte Independence	0–0	Richmond Kickers	Matthews, North Carolina
19:00 EDT	Martinez  5' Johnson  90'	Report	Asante  24' Troyer  44'	Stadium: Sportsplex at Matthews Attendance: 1,384 Referee: Christina Unkel

Richmond Kickers v Saint Louis FC

July 29 21	Richmond Kickers	0–1	Saint Louis FC	Richmond, Virginia
19:00 EDT	Robinson  17' Asante  35' Tayou  73'	Report	Appiah 46' Stojkov  6'	Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 2,622 Referee: Kevin Broadley

Pittsburgh Riverhounds v Richmond Kickers

August 5 22	Pittsburgh Riverhounds	1–1	Richmond Kickers	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
19:00 EDT	Okai 82' Earls  40'	Report	Gonzalez 65'	Stadium: Highmark Stadium Attendance: 3,048 Referee: Henrik Karlsson

Richmond Kickers v Orlando City B

August 12 23	Richmond Kickers	0–1	Orlando City B	Richmond, Virginia
19:00 EDT	Asante  41' Tayou  71' Luiz Fernando  74' Yomby  81' Sekyere  86'	Report	Barry 24' Carroll  28'  90' Rocha  54'	Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 3,157 Referee: Lorant Varga

Richmond Kickers v Toronto FC II

August 19 24	Richmond Kickers	2–1	Toronto FC II	Richmond, Virginia
19:00 EDT	Jane 6' Bolduc 68' Imura  27'	Report	Hamilton 4' Srbely  67' McCrary  84' Campbell  90'	Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 5,059 Referee: Calin Radosav

Richmond Kickers v Charleston Battery

August 26 25	Richmond Kickers	3–1	Charleston Battery	Richmond, Virginia
19:00 EDT	Jane 17' Oliver 36' 32' Imura 90+2' Eskay  89'	Report	Cordovés 2' Thomas  38' van Schaik  53'	Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: Nickrod Fateh Referee: 3,527

Charlotte Independence v Richmond Kickers

September 2 26	Charlotte Independence	3–0	Richmond Kickers	Matthews, North Carolina
19:00 EDT	Siaj 3' Martinez 60' (pen.), 90'	Report	Oscar  15' Lee  39' Roberts  70' Durkin  76' Worra  90'	Stadium: Sportsplex at Matthews Attendance: 1,329 Referee: Gustavo Solorio

Orlando City B v Richmond Kickers

September 7 27	Orlando City B	0–2	Richmond Kickers	Orlando, Florida
16:30 EDT	Schweitzer  22'	Report	Minutillo 40' Jane 45' Bolduc  54'	Stadium: Orlando City Stadium Attendance: 791 Referee: Jonathan Bilinski
Note: Kickoff moved from 19:30 to 16:30 due to Hurricane Irma.

Charleston Battery v Richmond Kickers

September 16 28	Charleston Battery	1–0	Richmond Kickers	Charleston, South Carolina
19:00 EDT	Cordovés 84' Lasso  34' Williams  37' Thomas  77'	Report	Eskay  65'	Stadium: MUSC Health Stadium Attendance: 2,228 Referee: Kevin Broadley

Richmond Kickers v Rochester Rhinos

September 23 29	Richmond Kickers	1–0	Rochester Rhinos	Richmond, Virginia
19:00 EDT	Minutillo 80'	Report	Kamdem  79'	Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 5,969 Referee: Jorge Ramirez

Richmond Kickers v Orlando City B

October 1 30	Richmond Kickers	0–1	Orlando City B	Richmond, Virginia
17:00 EDT	Jane  24' Yomby  45' Luiz Fernando  45' Umar  90'	Report	Barry 80' Rocha  45'	Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 6,582 Referee: Jose Lara

Saint Louis FC v Richmond Kickers

October 7 31	Saint Louis FC	0–1	Richmond Kickers	Fenton, Missouri
20:30 EDT (19:30 CDT)	Charpie  60' Cabalceta  78'	Report	Bolduc 46' 90'	Stadium: World Wide Technology Soccer Park Attendance: 5,725 Referee: Eric Tattersall

Louisville City v Richmond Kickers

October 14 32	Louisville City	3–1	Richmond Kickers	Louisville, Kentucky
19:30 EDT	Morad 33' Lancaster 84' Kaye 86' Davis IV  38'	Report	Roberts 45+1' Minutillo  34' Umar  40' Luiz Fernando  68'	Stadium: Louisville Slugger Field Attendance: 9,104 Referee: Joshua Brooks

U.S. Open Cup

Main article: 2017 U.S. Open Cup

Richmond Kickers v Christos FC

May 17 Second round	Richmond Kickers	0–1	Christos FC	Richmond, Virginia
19:30 EST	Eskay  29' Troyer  39'	Report	Caltabiano 79' Kansaye  21'	Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 850 Referee: JC Griggs

Statistics

Squad, appearances and goals

As of October 19, 2017^[10]

Italics indicate player no longer on team roster.

No.	Nat	Positions	Total				USL		USL Cup		U.S. Open Cup
			Players	Apps	Goals	Mins	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Goalkeepers
1		GK	Marcel DeBellis	3	0	270	2	0	0	0	1	0
22		GK	Alex Wimmer	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
26		GK	Eric Klenofsky	1	0	90	1	0	0	0	0	0
30		GK	Matt Turner	20	0	1800	20	0	0	0	0	0
48		GK	Travis Worra	9	0	810	9	0	0	0	0	0
Defenders
2		RB, CB	William Yomby	18	0	1478	17	0	0	0	1	0
3		CB	Chris Odoi-Atsem	1	0	90	1	0	0	0	0	0
5		LB, CB	Conor Shanosky	19	1	1455	18	1	0	0	1	0
8		RB, CB	Evan Lee	15	0	775	14	0	0	0	1	0
15		CB	Mallan Roberts	30	1	2667	30	0	0	0	0	0
18		RB	Alex Lee	25	0	2234	24	0	0	0	1	0
22		LB, CB	Maxim Tissot	4	0	340	4	0	0	0	0	0
29		LB, CB	Chris Korb	1	0	71	1	0	0	0	0	0
31		LB	Braeden Troyer	29	0	2610	28	0	0	0	1	0
38		CB	Jalen Robinson	4	0	339	4	0	0	0	0	0
Midfielders
4		MF	Fred Sekyere	24	2	1366	23	2	0	0	1	0
12		MF	Finnlay Wyatt	12	0	356	11	0	0	0	1	0
14		MF	Yudai Imura	23	0	1641	23	0	0	0	0	0
16		MF	Patrick McCann	10	0	703	10	0	0	0	0	0
17		MF	Oscar Umar	14	0	1259	14	0	0	0	0	0
21		MF	Chris Durkin	11	0	990	11	0	0	0	0	0
24		MF	Jackson Eskay	9	0	415	8	0	0	0	1	0
27		MF	Raul Gonzalez	24	2	1842	24	2	0	0	0	0
28		MF	Samuel Asante	17	0	1225	17	0	0	0	0	0
32		MF	Matt Bolduc	15	2	1003	14	2	0	0	1	0
35		MF	Brandon Eaton	1	0	90	1	0	0	0	0	0
42		MF	Simon Fitch	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Forwards
9		FW	Oliver	16	2	877	15	2	0	0	1	0
10		FW	Sunny Jane	25	3	1532	24	3	0	0	1	0
11		FW	Anthony Grant	16	0	517	15	0	0	0	1	0
20		FW	Mikey Minutillo	15	2	813	14	2	0	0	1	0
45		FW	Alhaji Kamara	9	4	717	9	4	0	0	0	0
70		FW	Franck Tayou	13	1	438	13	1	0	0	0	0
71		FW	Luiz Fernando	28	2	1751	28	2	0	0	0	0

Top scorers

Place	Position	Number	Name	USL	USL Cup	Open Cup	Total
1	FW	45	Alhaji Kamara	4	0	0	4
2	FW	10	Sunny Jane	3	0	0	3
3	MF	4	Fred Sekyere	2	0	0	2
	FW	9	Oliver	2	0	0	2
	FW	20	Mikey Minutillo	2	0	0	2
	MF	27	Raul Gonzalez	2	0	0	2
	MF	32	Matt Bolduc	2	0	0	2
	MF	71	Luiz Fernando	2	0	0	2
9	DF	5	Conor Shanosky	1	0	0	1
	DF	15	Mallan Roberts	1	0	0	1
	FW	70	Franck Tayou	1	0	0	1

As of October 17, 2017.

See also

• Richmond Kickers
• 2017 D.C. United season