2021 Richmond Kickers season
The 2021 Richmond Kickers season was the club's 29th season of existence, their third season in USL League One, and their 17th season in the third tier of American soccer. The Kickers were be led by second-year head coach, Darren Sawatzky, and look to improve on their 4th-place finish in 2020.
2021 season | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Owner | 22 Holdings, LLC | |||
Head coach | Darren Sawatzky | |||
Stadium | City Stadium | |||
USL League One | 5th | |||
USL1 Playoffs | Quarterfinals | |||
U.S. Open Cup | Did not qualify | |||
Bon Secours Cup | Winners | |||
Top goalscorer | League: Terzaghi (18) All: Terzaghi (18) | |||
Highest home attendance | 3,212 (10/26 v. MAD) | |||
Lowest home attendance | 1,445 (8/14 v. NE) | |||
Average home league attendance | 2,051 | |||
Biggest win | NE 0–3 RIC (4/17) | |||
Biggest defeat | NC 4–0 RIC (7/21) | |||
| ||||
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated vaccination rollout, the season began on April 17, 2021. The season concluded on October 30, 2021. Due to the pandemic, the U.S. Open Cup was truncated and subsequently canceled due to the pandemic. The Kickers finished the USL League One regular season in 5th place, qualifying them for the USL League One Playoffs, making it their first appearance in the playoffs since 2016. There, the Kickers were eliminated in the first round against FC Tucson.
Background
The 2020 season was significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The season, originally slated to begin on March 28, 2020, did not begin until July 25, 2020. The season originally was slated to end on September 30, 2020, but concluded on October 24, 2020. The 28-match season was abbreviated to 16 matches, and the playoffs were reduced from a four-team playoff, to a single game championship. During the truncated season, the Kickers had a good turn of fortune, finishing fourth in the league table, and having a winning a record. It was the Kickers' best regular season performance since 2014. Despite the record, the club on the final day of the season failed to reach the USL Championship Game after losing at home to Chattanooga. Striker, Emiliano Terzaghi, scored 10 goals during the season, which was the best performance by a striker for the Kickers since Yudai Imura in 2016. Terzaghi had a 0.63 goals per game average, which was the best performance by a striker for Richmond since Robert Ssejjemba in 2006.
On October 30, 2020, Matt Spear stepped down as the club's president to focus on family reasons.[1] Spear had been the club's president since 2019.[2][3]
Transfers
Transfers in
Date | Position | No. | Name | From | Fee/notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
February 9, 2021 | DF | 20 | Esteban Calvo | FC Tucson | Free | [4] |
February 11, 2021 | MF | 10 | Nil Vinyals | Tormenta | Free | [5] |
February 15, 2021 | GK | 44 | Austin Aviza | Orlando City B | Free | [6] |
February 18, 2021 | DF | 15 | Jalen Crisler | Forward Madison | Free | [7] |
February 18, 2021 | DF | 24 | Nathan Aune | Union Omaha | Free | [7] |
February 22, 2021 | FW | 19 | Hernán González | Juventud Unida | Free | [8] |
February 24, 2021 | MF | 6 | Zacarías Morán | River Plate | Free | [9] |
March 4, 2021 | DF | 2 | Juan Pablo Monticelli | Orlando City B | Free | [10] |
March 8, 2021 | MF | 88 | Cameron Vickers | FC Motown | Free | [11] |
April 6, 2021 | GK | 13 | Austin Causey | New England Revolution II | Free | [12] |
Transfers out
Date | Position | No. | Name | To | Fee/notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
August 6, 2020 | DF | 5 | Conor Shanosky | Retired | Retired | |
December 31, 2020 | DF | 12 | Kyle Venter | Retired | Retired | |
December 31, 2020 | GK | 20 | Lee Johnston | Released | ||
December 31, 2020 | MF | 21 | Greg Boehme | Released | ||
December 31, 2020 | DF | 22 | Hassan Pinto | Loudoun United | Released | |
December 31, 2020 | MF | 80 | Mutaya Mwape | Released | ||
December 31, 2020 | MF | 93 | Gianluca Cuomo | Released | ||
December 31, 2020 | GK | 94 | Matt Broomall | Ballymacash Rangers | Released | |
December 31, 2020 | MF | 98 | Ryley Kraft | Released | ||
December 31, 2020 | MF | 77 | Charles Boateng | WAFA | End of loan | |
February 11, 2021 | DF | 18 | Wahab Ackwei | Loudoun United | Free | |
March 27, 2021 | MF | 8 | Amass Amankona | South Bend Lions | Released | |
April 6, 2021 | MF | 11 | David Diosa | New Amsterdam | Free |
Competitive
Exhibitions
March 24, 2021 Preseason | Richmond Kickers | 5–0 | Virginia United FC | Richmond, Virginia |
Magalhães 10' (Morán) Bolanos 16' (Pavone) Terzaghi 19' (pen.) González 26' (Bolanos) Falck 38' |
Report | Stadium: City Stadium |
March 27, 2021 Preseason | Philadelphia Union II | 0–4 | Richmond Kickers | Chester, Pennsylvania |
Report | Bolanos 10' Monticelli 44' (Morán) Terzaghi 45+' (Bolanos), 51' Alves 74' (Terzaghi) |
Stadium: Power Training Complex |
April 5, 2021 Preseason | Richmond Kickers | 4–0 | North Carolina FC | Richmond, Virginia |
González 12', 13' (Bolanos) Monticelli 24' Magalhães 62' (Vickers) |
Report | Stadium: City Stadium | ||
Note: Played in three 30-minute periods. |
April 10, 2021 Preseason | Richmond Kickers | — | Loudoun United | |
Report | ||||
Note: Cancelled due to positive COVID-19 test within Loudoun United organization. |
USL League One
Standings
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
3 | Chattanooga Red Wolves SC | 28 | 11 | 11 | 6 | 37 | 29 | +8 | 44 | Qualification for the play-offs |
4 | FC Tucson | 28 | 11 | 7 | 10 | 44 | 42 | +2 | 40 | |
5 | Richmond Kickers | 28 | 11 | 7 | 10 | 35 | 36 | −1 | 40 | |
6 | North Texas SC | 28 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 40 | 32 | +8 | 40 | |
7 | Toronto FC II | 28 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 34 | 32 | +2 | 38 |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) total wins; 3) total goal differential; 4) total goals scored; 5) points earned against top four Conference finishers; 6) disciplinary points; 7) drawing of lots.
Results by matchday
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss; P = Postponed
Match results
April 17, 2021 1 | New England Revolution II | 0–3 | Richmond Kickers | Foxborough, MA |
19:00 EDT | Report |
|
Stadium: Gillette Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Thomas Snyder |
April 24, 2021 2 | Richmond Kickers | 0–1 | Greenville Triumph | Richmond, VA |
18:30 EDT | Monticelli 28' González 35' Morán 44' Terzaghi 67' |
Report | Murillo 33' 40' Mohamed 61' Pavone 74' (o.g.) Ibarra 88' |
Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 1,606 Referee: John Griggs |
May 2, 2021 3 | Fort Lauderdale CF | 2–1 | Richmond Kickers | Fort Lauderdale, FL |
19:30 EDT | Hundal 20', 83' Acosta 90+2' Rosales 90+7' |
Report | Pavone 70' Vinyals 75' |
Stadium: Inter Miami CF Stadium Referee: Adam Brzozowiec |
May 8, 2021 4 | Richmond Kickers | 2–0 | Tormenta | Richmond, VA |
18:30 EDT | Crisler 33' Morán 78' Terzaghi 80', 89' (pen.) Vickers 90+8' Vinyals 90+8' |
Report | Phelps 18' Eckenrode 89' |
Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 1,789 Referee: Matthew Franz |
May 22, 2021 5 | Richmond Kickers | 0–0 | North Carolina FC | Richmond, VA |
18:30 EDT | Calvo 80' | Report | Simpson 44' Blanco Flores 65' Kamara 90+3' Coan 90+3' |
Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 2,377 Referee: John Matto |
May 29, 2021 6 | Chattanooga Red Wolves | 2–1 | Richmond Kickers | Chattanooga, TN |
18:30 EST | Navarro 30' Capozucchi 45' Ruiz 53', 74' Galindrez 84' |
Report | Terzaghi 21' Anderson 45+3', 47' Vinyals 59' Bolduc 89' |
Stadium: CHI Memorial Stadium Attendance: 1,752 Referee: Ben Meyer |
June 5, 2021 7 | Richmond Kickers | 3–2 | New England Revolution II | Richmond, VA |
18:30 EDT | Bolduc 1' Crisler 36' Monticelli 40' Terzaghi 51' Vinyals 83' |
Report | N. Buck 30' Cayet 76' Michel 90+1' |
Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 2,360 Referee: JC Griggs |
June 12, 2021 8 | Forward Madison | 0–0 | Richmond Kickers | Madison, WI |
20:00 EDT | Barriga Toyama 53' Tobin 55' Díaz 59' Gebhard 71' |
Report | Morán 16' Terzaghi 32' Crisler 55' |
Stadium: Breese Stevens Field Attendance: 2,929 Referee: Laura Rodriguez |
June 19, 2021 9 | Richmond Kickers | 1–1 | Union Omaha | Richmond, VA |
18:30 EDT | Terzaghi 57' Otieno 76' (o.g.) Anderson 80' |
Report | Sousa 31' 75' Vanacore-Decker 64' Otieno 73' |
Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 2,009 Referee: John Matto |
June 25, 2021 10 | North Carolina FC | 2–1 | Richmond Kickers | Cary, NC |
19:00 EDT | Flick 33' 47' Kamara 56' Coan 90+3' |
Report | Terzaghi 6' Calvo 11' 59' Malgahes 46' Crisler 65' |
Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 2,367 Referee: Luis Arroyo |
July 3, 2021 11 | Richmond Kickers | 3–2 | North Texas SC | Richmond, VA |
19:00 EDT | Report | Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 1,858 Referee: Nickrod Fateh |
July 17, 2021 12 | Richmond Kickers | 1–1 | Fort Lauderdale CF | Richmond, VA |
18:30 EDT | Falck 86' Terzaghi 86' |
Report | Curry 6' Taghvai-Najib 37' Penn 53' Poplawski 82' |
Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 1,723 Referee: William Steffen |
July 21, 2021 13 | North Carolina FC | 4–0 | Richmond Kickers | Cary, NC |
19:00 EDT | Kristo 19', 41' Coan 48', 90+2' |
Report | Morán 70' Magalhães 85' |
Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 2,118 Referee: Emma Richards |
July 24, 2021 14 | Tormenta | 2–2 | Richmond Kickers | Statesboro, GA |
20:00 EDT | Micaletto 2' (pen.) Perez 62' Liadi 75' |
Report | Crisler 2' Terzaghi 63' Calvo 66' Cole 79' Anderson 88' Morán 90+1' |
Stadium: Eagle Field Attendance: 1,237 Referee: DeShun Beard |
July 31, 2021 15 | Richmond Kickers | 1–0 | FC Tucson | Richmond, VA |
18:30 EDT | Terzaghi 19' (pen.) Alves 52' Magalhães 53' Fitzgerald 86' Pavone 90+5' |
Report | Bedoya 32' Schenfeld 44' Uzo 57' Ferriol 77' Dennis 84' Corfe 90+1' |
Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 2,691 Referee: Sara Griggs |
August 6, 2021 16 | Toronto FC II | 2–1 | Richmond Kickers | Toronto, ON |
4:00 PM EDT | Monticelli 16' (o.g.) Carlini 18', 69' Campbell 53' Goulbourne 88' |
Report | Vinyals 25' (pen.) Falck 52' Aune 59' Monticelli 90' |
Stadium: BMO Training Ground Referee: Scott Bowman |
August 14, 2021 17 | Richmond Kickers | 2–2 | New England Revolution II | Richmond, VA |
6:30 PM EDT | Terzaghi 26', 35', 53' Morán 38' Fitzgerald 79' González 84' |
Report | Presley 42' Michel 55' Verfurth 59' N. Buck 86' Kizza 87' |
Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 1,445 Referee: John Matto |
August 22, 2021 18 | Greenville Triumph | 0–2 | Richmond Kickers | Greenville, SC |
7:00 PM EDT | Lee 68' Mejia 90+1' |
Report | Bolanos 46' Terzaghi 55', 81' Monticelli 71' |
Stadium: Legacy Early College Field Attendance: 2,061 Referee: Izlen Peksenar |
August 28, 2021 19 | Richmond Kickers | 0–0 | North Carolina FC | Richmond, VA |
18:30 EDT | Calvo 43' Crisler 90+3' |
Report | Flick 27' Kamara 76' |
Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 1,807 Referee: Austin Saini |
September 11, 2021 20 | Forward Madison | 1–0 | Richmond Kickers | Madison, WI |
8:00 PM EDT | Sierakowski 50' Leonard 66' Gebhard 72' |
Report | Calvo 26' Vinyals 57' Bolanos 80' |
Stadium: Breese Stevens Field Attendance: 2,744 Referee: Samantha Martinez |
September 17, 2021 21 | New England Revolution II | 3–1 | Richmond Kickers | Foxborough, MA |
7:00 PM EDT | Rennicks 33' Rivera 47' Rozhansky 70' Rice 74' Bajraktarevic 75' N. Buck 90+2' |
Report | Bolanos 3' Terzaghi 36' Anderson 76' González 90' |
Stadium: Gillette Stadium Attendance: 125 Referee: Kenneth Rojas |
September 25, 2021 22 | Richmond Kickers | 1–0 | Toronto FC II | Richmond, VA |
18:30 EDT | Vinyals 28' Morán 35' Crisler 79' Terzaghi 90+3' Anderson 90+5' |
Report | Antonoglou 30' Petrasso 73' |
Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 2,223 Referee: Danielle Chesky |
October 2, 2021 23 | Richmond Kickers | 1–0 | Chattanooga Red Wolves | Richmond, VA |
18:30 EDT | Bolanos 33' Magalhães 38' Terzaghi 52' Vinyals 82' Dubose 84' Pavone 90' Bolduc 90+8' |
Report | Ramos 29' 85' Ortiz 43' Pineda 45+1' |
Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 2,868 Referee: Matt Franz |
October 6, 2021 24 | Richmond Kickers | 1–0 | Forward Madison | Richmond, VA |
18:30 EDT | Terzaghi 8' 84' Bolanos 74' |
Report | Rad 80' Craig 90' |
Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 1,126 Referee: William Steffen |
October 10, 2021 25 | North Texas SC | 1–2 | Richmond Kickers | Arlington, TX |
19:30 EDT | Rayo 33' Lucão 64' Munjoma 80' |
Report | Calvo 47' Magalhães 47', 90+5' Morán 81' |
Stadium: Choctaw Stadium Attendance: 622 Referee: Esad Omanovic |
October 16, 2021 26 | Richmond Kickers | 3–2 | Forward Madison | Richmond, VA |
18:30 EDT | Cole 5', 32' Terzaghi 45', 88' Morán 45+4' Monticelli 74' |
Report | Trimmingham 8' Sukow 14' Leonard 25' Rad 42' Tobin 44' Calvo 47' (o.g.) Jepson 80' |
Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 3,212 Referee: John Matto |
October 23, 2021 27 | Union Omaha | 2–0 | Richmond Kickers | Papillion, NE |
19:00 EDT | Hurst 34' 88' Otieno 85' 90+4' Sousa 90' |
Report | Bolduc 30' Bolanos 77' Morán 84' |
Stadium: Werner Park Attendance: 2,943 Referee: Luis Arroyo |
October 30, 2021 28 | FC Tucson | 4–2 | Richmond Kickers | Tucson, AZ |
22:00 EDT |
|
Report | Stadium: Kino North Stadium Attendance: 1,566 Referee: Joseph Salinas |
U.S. Open Cup
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, only one team from USL League One (league champions), qualified for the 2021 U.S. Open Cup. However in July 2021, the Open Cup was canceled.
Statistics
Appearances and goals
Numbers after plus–sign (+) denote appearances as a substitute.
No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | USL-1 | USL-1 Playoffs | U.S. Open Cup | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||||
1 | GK | JPN | Akira Fitzgerald | 22 | 0 | 22+0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2 | DF | USA | Ian Antley | 1 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
3 | DF | USA | Scott Thomsen | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
4 | DF | BRA | Ivan Magalhães | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
5 | DF | USA | Conor Shanosky | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
7 | MF | USA | Matt Bolduc | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
8 | MF | GHA | Amass Amankona | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
9 | FW | BRA | Stanley Alves | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
10 | FW | ZAM | Mutaya Mwape | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
11 | MF | COL | David Diosa | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
12 | DF | USA | Kyle Venter | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
14 | DF | USA | Luke Pavone | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
15 | FW | VIN | Oalex Anderson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
16 | MF | USA | Zev Taublieb | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
17 | MF | USA | Jonathan Bolanos | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
18 | DF | GHA | Wahab Ackwei | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
20 | GK | USA | Lee Johnston | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
21 | MF | USA | Greg Boehme | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
22 | DF | USA | Hassan Pinto | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
23 | DF | SWE | Victor Falck | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
32 | FW | ARG | Emiliano Terzaghi | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
67 | DF | USA | Devante Dubose | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
77 | MF | GHA | Charles Boateng | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
93 | MF | ITA | Gianluca Cuomo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
94 | GK | USA | Matt Broomall | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
98 | MF | USA | Ryley Kraft | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
- Last updated: October 24, 2020
- Source: Soccerway
Top scorers
Rank | Position | Number | Name | USL1 | USL1 Playoffs | U.S. Open Cup | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | FW | 15 | Oalex Anderson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
MF | 17 | Jonathan Bolanos | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
DF | 2 | Juan Pablo Monticelli | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
- Last updated: April 20, 2021
- Source: Team Goals
Top assists
Rank | Position | Number | Name | USL1 | USL1 Playoffs | U.S. Open Cup | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | MF | 6 | Hernán González | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
- Last updated: April 20, 2021
- Source: Team Assists
Disciplinary record
No. | Pos. | Player | USL1 | USL1 Playoffs | U.S. Open Cup | Total | ||||||||
6 | MF | Zacarías Morán | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
17 | MF | Jonathan Bolanos | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Total | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
- Last updated: April 20, 2021
- Source: Team Discipline
References
- Wood, Patrick (October 30, 2020). "Spear Steps Down as Kickers Pro President". Richmond Kickers. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
- Hayes, Ricard (October 30, 2020). "Offseason Changes Begin Early for Richmond as President Matt Spears Steps Down". RVAHub.com. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
- "Richmond Kickers Pro Soccer President Matt Spear steps down". SoccerWire.com. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
- Wood, Patrick (February 9, 2021). "Calvo Joins the Kickers for 2021". Richmond Kickers. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
- Wood, Patrick (February 11, 2021). "Kickers Add Vinyals for 2021". Richmond Kickers. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
- Wood, Patrick (February 15, 2021). "Richmond Reinforces Goalkeeping with Aviza". Richmond Kickers. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
- Wood, Patrick (February 18, 2021). "Aune, Crisler Strengthen the Kickers Backline for 2021". Richmond Kickers. Archived from the original on April 21, 2021. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
- Wood, Patrick (February 22, 2021). "Kickers Add Firepower with Hernan Gonzalez". Richmond Kickers. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
- "Zaca Morán Bolsters Kickers' Midfield Options". uslleagueone.com. February 24, 2021. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
- "Kickers add bite at the back with Monticelli". Richmond Kickers. March 4, 2021.
- Wood, Patrick (March 8, 2021). "Vickers Brings Veteran Leadership to Richmond". Richmond Kickers. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
- "Richmond Adds Goalkeeper Austin Causey". USL League One. April 6, 2021. Archived from the original on April 21, 2021. Retrieved April 20, 2021.