Features

The Kickers Classic teams finished their Fall season in style collecting four VSLI Championships. Both the U13 Girls, coached by Ed Fallin and the Boys U13 Central, coached by Claudio Ragazzi, finished first in their divisions with perfect records. The Boys U15 South, coached by Kickers pro, Luke Vercollone, took the U15 Central Division with 7 wins and 1 tie. The Boys U16 Central, coached by Craig Mayhew claimed first in their division, narrowly edging out the U16 South team with a 3-2 victory on the last day of the season. Congratulations to our four champions and to all our Kickers Classic teams on a well-played Fall season. 

Richmond Kickers U-15 Girls Super Y-League team has qualified for the semifinal round of the 2009 North American Super Y-League Finals and will be taking on the Cleveland Internationals today at 3:15 p.m. in Tampa, Florida.  They finished with a 2-1 record in pool play, defeating West Pines 2-1 yesterday, courtesy of goals by Ashley Williams and Ashley Riefner.  The winner of today’s match will advance to the Championship on Tuesday.

The Richmond Kickers U12 Boys Elite VCCL team ended their season on a high note and silenced doubters recently by securing the championship title in the highly competitive CASL Shootout in Raleigh, North Carolina. The boys beat out the distinguished Cape Fear Breakers in a barnburner not soon to be forgotten. With the score tied 1-1 at the end of regulation play, it seemed the teams were evenly matched, but that wouldn’t last long. The Kickers rallied together to score in the first half of overtime, and kept control of play long enough to clinch the title and their first championship victory. Way to go guys!

The U14 Elite Girls won four consecutive matches in Disney’s Junior Showcase en route to the Finals of the tournament. On Friday,  they defeated GSA Phoenix 2- 0 and WESA Krush 2-0. On Saturday they needed to defeat Dallas Texans to secure a place in the final four.  The girls did not disappoint with another 2-0 victory.  Sunday, the Kickers handed a 3-0 decision to Tophat Gold in the semifinals before conceding a narrow 2-1 loss in the Finals to the East Lake Arsenal Elite.

The Kickers Academy teams played host to VA Rush and McLean over the weekend. The U16 Team produced two strong performances defeating Rush 2-0 and McLean 1-0, to record their third shut-out win in a row.  The three goals they scored were of the highest quality;  Carrabotta clinically finishing two goals from inch perfect crosses from Fracassa and Humphries while Hallinan produced a great solo effort by dribbling past several defenders before sliding the ball past the goalkeeper into the far corner of the net. 

Coach Cowlishaw comments, “I am very proud of the way our squad continues to battle every minute of every game.  We have spent long hours improving our possession and offensive qualities and although we still have plenty of room for improvement, I know that paid dividends in these two games.”

The U18 Academy games followed a familiar theme as they produced more inconsistent play with moments of brilliance and despair. On Saturday the U18’s were defeated by VA Rush, with the team playing poorly but goals from Foglesong and Luxner had the game tied at 2-2 with only twenty minutes to go. Just as it seemed the momentum had shifted to the Kickers, they conceded a late goal for the 3-2 loss.

On Sunday the Kickers improved their play with a strong showing against a McLean team that had thumped the Strikers 4-1 the day before.  Lewis scored early before McLean responded with the equalizing goal. Yancy hit a rocket free kick from 20 yards out to give the Kickers the lead again.  As the game progressed McLean continued to press but the Kickers held on with a combination of luck and excellent defense.  Just when it seemed the 18’s had done enough to preserve the win, McLean demonstrated their never-say-die-attitude by scoring late into injury time .  The game ended 20 seconds later with the score line of Kickers 2, McLean 2.

Coach Myers comments, “The weekend was a disappointment as we threw away four valuable home points and that is unacceptable. We have plenty of work ahead if we are to generate the type of performance this squad is clearly capable of producing”.

The Kickers Elite teams ventured west for a three-hour road trip to Roanoke on Sunday.  The Kickers looked to produce another positive performance and the elite teams did not disappoint as the club finished with a record of 9 wins, 2 ties and 5 losses on the day.  Next week, the Strikers visit Ukrop Park for the final game of the Fall VCCL season.

It was a fantastic weekend for the Kickers Academy teams.  After struggling on the road, both teams were thankful to return to the familiar surroundings  of Ukrop Park.  Due to the incessant rain, it was decided the games should be played on Ukrop Park’s 120 x 76 Sportexe synthetic surface.

The U16’s produced a strong performance creating numerous opportunities in the first half.  Fracassa, Carrabotta and Lurie all went close. Carrabotta’s persistance showed off as he scored two second half goals to lead the U16’s to a deserved 2-0 victory.

The U18’s also started very strongly, producing several fast-break attacks that ripped through the Clearwater defense. Foglesong struck the crossbar from close range but made amends moments later by scoring the go ahead goal. Henry added the second goal for a Kickers lead of 2-0 at the half.  Clearwater played much better in the second half scoring midway through the period and were unfortunate not to score again until late in the match. The U18’s missed several more chances themselves and held on for a 2-1 win.

The U15 Elite Boys are one game away from reaching the VYSA State Cup Final Four for the third consecutive year. A strong showing on Saturday produced a well deserved 3-0 victory over local club FC Richmond.  Goals from Lane Cashin, Alex Waite and Finno Wyatt made the difference.  The U15’s will now take on Arlington next weekend at Ukrop Park for a place in the Final Four. 

The U15 Boys eased through to the VYSA Final Four with a comfortable 4-0 victory over Arlington.  Adam Warren scored a first half hat-trick with Alec Rich adding the fourth goal.  The U15 Girls had a much tougher affair as they played host to WAGS Division One leader McLean.  The match was played in tricky conditions with the game being decided by a wonder strike from Christina Corbin that ricocheted off the underside off the crossbar and into the net.  The team defended well to preserve the 1-0 lead and booked their place in the Final Four.  The Final Four Games will be held next weekend at West Creek Soccer Complex.  The U15 Girls will play on Saturday versus CYA Firecats at 9am and the U15 Boys seek revenge over the Reston Knights FC at 3pm. Both Kickers semi finals will be played on Field #8.

The Richmond Kickers Elite teams concluded their VCCL season with an exceptional performance recording 11 wins and 5 losses against local club Richmond Strikers. Ukrop Park was once again in wonderful playing condition as the two rivals battled for the VCCL Club Championship.  There were some great individual matches and many games were decided by the odd goal.  The Kickers must now wait on other league games before knowing if they have done enough to be crowned Champions.