RICHMOND, VA – (Monday, May 21, 2018) – Ronnie Pascale has become synonymous with Richmond Kickers. The Kickers legend recently sat down to reflect on his time in the USL, his favorite memories, and his new beginnings in the broadcasting booth.
Pascale played for the Kickers from 2000-2012 and 2016 in an emergency role before officially retiring from the game of soccer. The New York native appeared in over 300 matches and amassed more than 28,000 minutes, both Kickers records. Pascale was the talented goalkeeper for the Kickers USL Championships in 2006 and again in 2009.
“It’s really one of those indescribable moments,” Pascale said. “We made the finals in 2002 and 2005 and fell just short in both of those years. 2006 was especially significant for me because it was three days after my son was born. It was a pretty intense week. That’s something that every athlete plays for that goal of winning the championship and being able to lift that trophy.”
The Kickers are in the midst of a Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup run right now. Richmond survived a scare in penalties against a PDL team, Reading United AC to advance to the third round. Pascale was a member of the 2011 team that defeated two MLS squads before eventually falling in the semifinals. Pascale and Co. were the furthest advancing USL team in the 2011 U.S. Open Cup.
“The Open Cup is always one of those special moments,” Pascale said. “Lots of really good memories, lots of really bad memories at the same time. We’ve historically done pretty well. One of the hardest games is always that first game against an amateur team because when you’re playing a lower division team, they’re playing with a chip on their shoulder. Once you get past that and if you’re lucky enough to play an MLS team, the roles are reversed. You go in there and you’ve got something to play for. For me, not so much, but the younger players are trying to prove something.”
Richmond first started to make noise in the 2011 U.S. Open Cup with a 2-1 win over the Columbus Crew. Next, the Kickers sent shockwaves through the soccer world by upsetting Sporting Kansas City, 2-0 to claim a spot in the semifinals. They ultimately lost 2-1 to the Chicago Fire, the best game of the tournament run for the Kickers according to Pascale. However, it is that win over Kansas City that’s still fresh in the minds of Kickers’ fans seven years later. The Kickers handed Sporting Kansas City the first loss in the newly opened Children’s Mercy Park (formerly LIVESTRONG Sporting Park).
“We’re there and I even remember warming up. The fans behind the goal yelling at you,” Pascale said. “You see the stadium start to fill up. At the time it was a state-of-the-art stadium. The first half we kind of sat in a little bit more. We let them attack. We knew we had to limit the spacing behind the back four. It was 0-0 at halftime. We came out in the second half and played a little bit. Had a lightning storm. We were used to lightning delays. I don’t think they were as used to it as we were. We came out after that and scored a goal off a counterattack. That set the stage. As they pushed forward, we got another counterattack and a penalty kick. We were able to convert that. It’s pretty cool to be able to say you were the first team to be able to beat them at their new stadium. It’s still something I like to brag about a little bit.”
The former goalkeeper went down as one, if not the most iconic Kicker when he retired from soccer. However, Pascale couldn’t stay away from the game and the Kickers for too long. Earlier this year, ESPN+ was named the USL’s subscription streaming service. Richmond needed a color commentator for all homes games and Pascale was the top choice. Alongside play-by-play broadcaster John Emmett, Pascale has gotten a taste of what it takes to be in the broadcast booth.
“It’s been pretty fun,” Pascale said. “I figure I’m going to the game anyway so I might as well be able to talk about it and have fun doing that. My first year with the Kickers was 2000 which was Leigh [Cowlishaw’s] first year with the Kickers as the coach. I’ve seen how he’s grown and developed. I usually know his game plan and what he’s thinking. Why he does some of the things he does. I think it’s cool to add that input to the broadcast. Hopefully people think it’s exciting. I love it. It’s a way to stay involved with the Kickers because they’re a huge part of my life.”
Pascale was a true cerebral netminder in his playing days and takes that same knowledge up to the broadcasting booth. He’s noticed some things from the broadcaster’s viewpoint that he didn’t see in all those years in front of the net.
“For me personally, it’s a different view,” Pascale said. “As a goalkeeper, you’re kind of behind the field. Up in the booth, you’re at midfield. You’re able to keep an eye on the structure of both teams. How they’re organized defensively, if they’re pushing together, if they have a high line or a low line. You get to see some of the runs a little bit better. Especially this last game, I noticed as Tampa’s fullbacks were pushing forward, Brian Shriver was making some great diagonal runs for the Kickers in behind. Maybe when you’re playing you don’t see it as much, but when you’re up there and you can see the entire field, you can see that he’s an extremely intelligent player. He makes those runs at the right time and it’s just a matter of getting him the ball.”
Pascale practically has Richmond Kickers red in his blood, so the most difficult part of the new gig has been withholding those moments where he wanted to cheer because of a Travis Worra save or a Yudai Imura opportunity.
“The hardest part is trying to stay neutral and not being able to react to what’s going on,” Pascale said. “There were a couple times in the last game where I really wanted to celebrate, but you can’t do it. It’s trying to stay quiet while you’re doing the broadcast.”
With no prior connection to the city before the Richmond Kickers, RVA has become home to the Pascale family. Ronnie met his wife Stacy here and has two kids, Tabatha and Brayden (Brayden is on the Kickers U12 Red Elite team, but did not follow the path of his father. He’s scoring the goals instead of stopping them). Pascale never thought he would spend too much time in one city, but here he is still in Richmond 19 years later.
“I still feel extremely fortunate that the Kickers were such a solid organization back then in the early 2000’s,” Pascale said. “There was a lot of change. A lot of teams would pop up for a couple years and then they disappear. It was a really fortunate situation to end up here. It really becomes a family.
“The Kickers are really one of those backbone organizations of the city. Richmond is home.”
