Welcome again from beautiful City Stadium in Richmond, Va.! It is a lovely sunny day just south of Carytown, and a lovely day for the Richmond Kickers to take on the Rochester (Ragin’) Rhinos. As I mentioned in my previous post, the Kickers need a good result to get back on track for the playoffs, and the Rhinos will be itching to move into second place and past the Charleston Battery.
This game features the return of D.C. United on loan center back Ethan White as well as long lost defender Henry Kalungi. The Kickers defensed got shelled against the Rochester Rhinos, so these two players will be a welcome addition. It will also allow Jason Yeisley, who has filled in well at center back, to move back up to forward and provide a target forward alongside Christopher Agorsor. I’m excited to see how this pairing works!
Gametime: 7:00pm
Video: No streaming video for this game; if you’re not here in Richmond, follow my updates!
Lineup:Here is the lineup for tonight (all the players will be right, but their positions might be a little sketchy as their weird on the lineup card):
Pascale
Goerres White William Kalungi
Heins Callahan Dos Santos Vercollone
Yeisley Agorsor
Prediction: 1-0 is the Kickers vintage recently, so I’m going to go with that.
What are you drinking? Mountain Dew, as I’m in the press box today. What are you all drinking?
There will be game updates after the jump, so feel free to follow along! (and join in!)
Halftime: The Kickers have played fairly well so far, and the presence of Henry Kalungi on the back line and Jason Yeisley up top have been two of the big reasons why. Yeisley has been the big body necessary to partner with Christopher Agorsor; while not seeing much of the ball, he has given Agorsor the space to make his darting runs. Kalungi has provided some much needed stability to a back line that has been in flux all season.
On the other hand, Agorsor has been bright but largely ineffective so far. He has had incisive runs, but his crosses have been lacking. Also disappointing was the fact that Gerson dos Santos had to leave in the middle of the first half. He was having a good game, and so I would think that he must have picked up a slight knock to get taken out so early. Yomby William still seems to be getting back into mental fitness, as some of his clearances and some of his decisions have been poor.
When in possession, Richmond was able to get it into the attacking third easily, but crosses from Agorsor and Heins were lacking. If they are able to find Yeisley, I think there is at least one more goal in store.
RochesterRhinos Starting XI: GK Nicht; D Bellamy, Traynor, Roberts, Fernandez; M Rosenlund, Kirk, Earls, Tanke, Banks; F Brito
Pregame: There are now two Kickeroos, and one is blue with a green shirt.
Pregame: It is a balmy 85 degrees here in Richmond as the teams run onto the field for the anthem.
1′ And here we go!
2′ Dos Santos with a lovely through ball to Agorsor, but the cross is intercepted.
5′ White with a long ball that is headed out; game a little disjointed so far.
6′ Agorsor gets involved in the defense, stripping a Rhino and earning a foul.
7′ William whiffs on a pass, but not danger comes of it. On the either end, Ryan Heins hounds defenders across the field.
8′ GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL LUKE VERCOLLONE! Vercollone gets on the end of an Agorsor cross with a late run into the box, and he started the attack as well, playing Agorsor in.
11′ Kickers looking on the front foot, but as I say that they give up a turnover. Some heavy pressure on Rochester’s back line, and hopefully the Kickers can get another.
14′ Yeisley is already making a difference up front. He hasn’t had too many touches, but his physical presence is giving Agorsor more space to work underneath.
16′ Jason Yeisley gets on the end of a Luke Vercollone cross, but he isn’t able to get enough power on it to push it past the keeper.
19′ William whiffs on another clearance, but again he is not made to pay by the ensuing Rochester chances.
21′ Goerres’ cross is just a little to long for Vercollone to get to the end of it.
22′ Heins and Yeisley get a little mixed up, but Dos Santos is there to bail them out; his cross gets to Vercollone, whose shot is blocked.
26′ Ronnie Pascale tips a long range shot over the bar for a corner.
27′ Goal Rochester. A cross in and Brito is able to get up and over a Kickers defender for a headed goal. Pascale almost kept it out, but it was from too close a range.
31′ Agorsor earns a free kick about 30 yards from the goal, and Heins curls it to the keeper. Gerson dos Santos comes out and is replaced by Bobby Fogelsong.
33′ Yeisley turns and shoots from 25, and the shot is tipped over the bar for a corner!
38′ Good buildup from Agorsor, but his cross is a little long for anyone to get onto the end of it.
39′ Vercollone’s shot from the top of the box is easily gathered by the keeper, who promptly shanks the kick out of bounds.
42′ Yellow card for Danny Earls for taking down Jason Yeisley.
45′ Yeisley is tackled on a Ronnie Pascale free kick, but not call is given. On the other end, Mike Callahan is shown yellow for a tackle on a Rochester counter.
45+ Agorsor wins a free kick for what should be the last action of the half. Its laid short and is eventually cleared for a Kickers corner. The corner is cleared and that is halftime!
47′ Kickers miss a bullet when it looks like a goal was scored against them; the game moves on and starts to get a little chippy.
51′ Dodgy offsides call on Agorsor, he looked on to me.
54′ A lot more loose energy right now, people flying all over the field but without a lot of direction.
57′ Hiroyama, Bulow, and Delicate all warming up for the Kickers. McFayden got loose in the back, but Pascale was there to save the shot.
59′ Agorsor intercepts a bad clearance, but takes too long to cross or shot and has it blocked.
60′ Kalungi and a Rhino lock ankles, and Kalungi is called for a foul 25 yards from the Kickers goal. Forces a great save by Pascale! Out for a corner, which is headed over the bar for a goal kick.
65′ Rochester is on the front foot right now, with most of the play in Richmond’s half of the field so far this half.
67′ Jason Yeisley launches a long throw-in towards the box, but Nicht is able to pluck it out of the air.
69′ Stanley Nyazamba comes in for substitute himself Bobby Fogelsong.
71′ A Rhino goes studs up into William Yomby, who was down but is now walking it off. Matthew Delicate also has him warmup jersey off and looks soon to come in.
74′ Nyazamba’s energy and first touch are good, but his through balls have been too heavy for even Agorsor to catch so far.
77′ Vercollone just had to restrain Mike Callahan, who fouled a Rhino at midfield and then kind of spazzed out. Callahan is already on a yellow, so he needs to watch out.
80′ Foul 25 yards from the box, and Goerres’ free kick is saved by Nicht for a corner.
81′ JASON YEISLEY GOAL! The ball pings around in the box, with Henry Kalungi starting the danger off of the corner kick, putting some nifty moves on the Rhinos defense. His cross is pinged around the box, until eventually Jason Yeisley is able to get a head on it. Ryan Heins is credited with the assist.
85′ The Rhinos are awarded a penalty. Hoxie puts it away and we are tied 2-2.
86′ David Bulow comes in for Ryan Heins, let’s see if he can give the Kickers some more late magic.
87′ David Bulow receives a ball at the top of the 6, which seemed to go through the legs of 3 Rhinos; somehow, he pushes it wide.
88′ Callahan is again yelling at a ref, this time the AR, about a ball he thought should have been called out for a corner.
90′ Matt Delicate comes in for Mike Callahan; as he comes off, Callahan gives the AR another piece of his mind.
90+ The Rhinos get a third goal in stoppage time, but the first ball looked to be offsides. After the goal, Stanley Nyazamba gets a red card and is sent off… for epic dissent? Who knows.
90+ Ugly last few minutes to this game, with lots of chippiness. The ref lost control of this game at the beginning of this half, and never got it back.
90+ And that’s the game, Rochester 3-2 Richmond. I’ll be back tomorrow morning with my match report, but its a disappointing loss for the Kickers.
Before Extra Time 