RICHMOND, VA – (Monday, July 23, 2007) – Two of the Richmond Kickers’ three teams clinched playoff berths following this weekend’s contests as the senior side, as well as the Richmond Kickers Destiny of the W-League, are headed to postseason play.
Despite a road loss to the Cincinnati Kings last Friday and a 1-1 draw in Cleveland the following night, the Kickers secured a place in the USL Second Division semi-finals to be held the weekend of August 18th. The current league leaders boast a record of 11-2-3 and 36 points, four points of head of second place Cleveland. The Cleveland City Stars, Charlotte Eagles and Harrisburg City Islanders are in playoff contention while Crystal Palace Baltimore and Western Mass Pioneers attempt to steal one of the remaining three spots. The Kickers must finish first or second in the regular season standings to lock up a home semifinal match on Saturday, August 18th.
The top four teams in the 10-team single table USL Second Division qualify for postseason play. The USL2 playoffs will consist of single-elimination semifinals the weekend after the close of the regular season with the winners meeting in the USL2 Championship game to be held the following weekend. The top two seeds will host their semifinal match with the host of the Championship match to be determined by a bid basis the weekend of August 25th.
Meanwhile, the Richmond Kickers Destiny of the USL W-League secured a playoff berth representing the Atlantic Division in the Central Conference Playoffs this weekend, July 27th-28th. The result of last night’s match decided the Destiny’s next step as they handed a 2-1 scoreline to the Hampton Roads Piranhas Sunday. Although tied for top seed in the division with the Atlanta Silverbacks, each with a record of 9-2-1 and 28 points, the Silverbacks win the regular season division title on a head-to-head tiebreaker. The Silverbacks were the only team to overcome the Destiny with Richmond suffering both regular season losses to Atlanta.
The top two teams from each of the two divisions in the Central Conference compete in postseason play with a semifinal round to be held on Friday, July 27th and a final round scheduled for Saturday, July 28th at Macalester College in St. Paul, MN. The winners of the Central, Eastern and Western Conference playoffs will travel to Rochester, NY for the W-League Championship tournament the following weekend with the W-League Championship to be televised LIVE on Fox Soccer Channel on August 5th.
Free Youth Night
With four regular season games remaining, the Richmond Kickers conclude their road stand this week, traveling to the Wilmington Hammerheads on Wednesday, July 25th followed by a trip to the Harrisburg City Islanders on Saturday, July 28th. The Kickers return home on Saturday, August 4th to host FREE YOUTH NIGHT with the Western Mass Pioneers at 7:00 pm at the University of Richmond Stadium. Courtesy of the Richmond Kickers Youth Soccer Club, free youth tickets for children ages 3-17 are available at the Kickers front office (2001 Maywill Street, Suite 203) or via RichmondKickers.com. Name, address and email address must be filled out to be valid and exchanged at the gate.
