Recap: Richmond 3, Charleston 1

RICHMOND, VA — (Saturday, August 26, 2017) — The Richmond Kickers (5-12-8) took a 3-1 victory over long-time rivals Charleston Battery (11-6-8) at City Stadium Saturday night. Heviel Cordovés opened the scoring in the second minute for Charleston as goals from Sunny Jane, Oliver Minatel and Yudai Imura gave the Kickers their first win over the Battery since 2014.

The visitors took an early lead when Heviel Cordovés put the Battery up in the second minute. Jarad van Schaik from the left side of the field played a cross in to the center of the Kickers box. William Yomby rose above Cordovés to head it away, as it fell into the path of Maikel Chang crashing the box. Chang lost his footing trying to get around Mallan Roberts and was at least able to poke the ball away to Cordovés. He turned and put his shot on frame that took a slight deflection off the inside of Yomby’s leg and into the far post side netting for the opening goal.

Sunny Jane scored his second goal in as many games to level the score for the Kickers in the 17th minute. Braeden Troyer controlled the ball almost in front of the fourth officials table on the sideline. He played a long ball over the top to find Jane at the center of the top of the Charleston 18-yard box. He chested down and hit it on the volley to Cooper’s right as he was diving to try and make the save.

The Kickers would double their lead through a goal from Oliver Minatel in the 36th minute. Sunny Jane won the ball in midfield and was able to escape three Battery players and made a run towards goal just right of the center of the field. Oliver cut across his run to take the ball and played a shot to the low left corner and past Cooper for the second of the night for Richmond.

Charleston pressed for an equalizer early in the second half, with two chances by Heviel Cordovés. The first came in the 49th minute. Off a Charleston throw-in, William Yomby was able to get to the ball before any Battery player and cleared it away as Cordovés stopped the clearance. He took a step to get around Oscar Umar and played a shot to Travis Worra’s right as it went wide of goal. Four minutes later and Cordovés would get another chance, this time coming closer. Tah Anunga fed the ball through the Kickers backline as Cordovés was making a run. He continued making his run as the Kickers appealed for an offside call. Travis Worra came well off his line at the top of the Richmond box to shut down the angle as Cordovés looked to play it to Worra’s right. The ball hit the post and went out for a goal kick.

Yudai Imura scored his first goal of the season deep into stoppage time, giving the Kickers their first three-goal game since May 27 at Ottawa. Frack Tayou challenged for a ball near the top of the Battery box as Taylor Mueller crashed into his back and was called for a foul. Imura stepped up for the free kick from about 25 yards out, sending his shot into the near post, bottom corner as Cooper went for a diving save just too late.

The Kickers hit the road for three straight matches, first heading to second place Charlotte Independence next Saturday night, September 2 for a 7:00 p.m. kickoff. The match will be available live on the Kickers official television partner WTVR CBS 6 on their 6.3 sub channel as well as the USL Match Center.

BOX SCORE

LINEUPS

Richmond GK Travis Worra, Alex Lee, William Yomby, Mallan Roberts, Braeden Troyer, Oscar Umar, Yudai Imura, Matt Bolduc, Luiz Fernando (87’ – Franck Tayou), Sunny Jane (64’ – Jackson Eskay), Oliver Minatel (64’ – Mikey Minutillo)

Unused Substitutes: Marcel DeBellis, Fred Owusu Sekyere, Evan Lee, Raul Gonzalez

Charleston GK Odisnel Cooper, Skylar Thomas, Taylor Mueller, Forrest Lasso, O’Brian Woodbine (80’ – Laurent Kissiedou), Maikel Chang, Justin Portillo, Jarad van Schaik (67’ – Kotaro Higashi), Tah Anunga (78’ – Patrick Okonkwo), Ataulla Guerra, Heviel Cordovés

Unused Substitutes: Joe Kuzminsky, Neveal Hackshaw, Nico Rittmeyer, Jeffrey Otoo

STATISTICS

SCORING SUMMARY

CAUTIONS SUMMARY

EJECTIONS SUMMARY

MATCH INFORMATION

Referee: Nickrod Fateh

Assistant Referees: Ben Pilgrim, Max Smith

Fourth Official: JT Alukonis

Attendance: 3527

Weather: Partly Cloudy, 77ºF