2016 Richmond Kickers season

The 2016 Richmond Kickers season was the club's twenty-fourth season of existence. It is also the Kickers' ninth-consecutive year in the third-tier of American soccer, playing in the United Soccer League for their fifth season.

Richmond Kickers

2016 season
Owner	RKYSC
Head Coach	Leigh Cowlishaw
Stadium	City Stadium
USL	7th place, Eastern Conference
USL Playoffs	First round
U.S. Open Cup	Third round
Top goalscorer	League: Yudai Imura (10) All: Yudai Imura (11)
Highest home attendance	League: 6,123 (Sep 17 vs. Charleston Battery) All: 7,128 (July 16 vs. Swansea City AFC)
Lowest home attendance	League: 2,647 (Aug 31 vs. Charleston Battery) All: 1,428 (May 18 vs. Aromas Café)
Average home league attendance	League: 3,996 All: 1,428
Home colors Away colors Third colors

The Kickers finished the season ranked seventh in the Eastern Conference, and earned a berth into the 2016 USL Playoffs. Richmond lost in their first round match-up to Louisville City.

Non-competitive

Preseason friendlies

Richmond Kickers v Longwood Lancers

February 28	Richmond Kickers	3–1	Longwood Lancers	Bensley
13:00 EDT	Yeisley  44' Sekyere  63' (pen.) dos Santos  89'		Keilty  34'	Stadium: Ukrop Park

Richmond Kickers v Virginia Cavaliers

March 5	Richmond Kickers	1–0	Virginia Cavaliers	Bensley
18:00 EDT	Yeisley  35'	Summary		Stadium: Ukrop Park

Richmond Kickers v Navy Midshipmen

March 6	Richmond Kickers	0–0	Navy Midshipmen	Bensley
17:00 EDT		Summary		Stadium: Ukrop Park

Carolina RailHawks v Richmond Kickers

March 9	Carolina RailHawks	0–1	Richmond Kickers	Cary
11:00 EDT	Pérez	Summary		Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park

Richmond Kickers v Carolina RailHawks

March 16	Richmond Kickers	1–2	Carolina RailHawks	Richmond
19:00 EDT	Yeisley  7'	Report	Moses  15' Black  80'	Stadium: City Stadium

Richmond Kickers v VCU Rams

March 20	Richmond Kickers	0–2	VCU Rams	Richmond
17:00 EDT	Roberts  20' Ownby  62'	Summary	Herranz  34'  52' Santos  83'	Stadium: City Stadium

Midseason friendlies

Richmond Kickers v Swansea City

July 16 Friendly	Richmond Kickers	2–0	Swansea City	Richmond
19:00 EDT	Amat  11' (o. g.) Grant  74'			Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 7,128 Referee: Patrick Rosas

Competitive

USL Regular season

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
5	Charlotte Independence	30	14	8	8	48	29	+19	50	Conference Playoffs
6	Charleston Battery	30	13	9	8	38	33	+5	48
7	Richmond Kickers	30	12	9	9	33	26	+7	45
8	Orlando City B	30	9	8	13	35	49	−14	35
9	Wilmington Hammerheads FC	30	8	10	12	37	47	−10	34

Source: 2016 USL Standings
Rules for classification: 1) total wins; 2) total goal differential; 3) total goals scored; 4) points earned against top four Conference finishers; 5) disciplinary points; 6) coin toss or drawing of lots

Matches

Richmond Kickers v Harrisburg City Islanders

March 26 1	Richmond Kickers	3–1	Harrisburg City Islanders	Richmond
17:00 EDT	Callahan  16' Yeisley  23' Imura  48'	Report	Barril  51'	Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 5,355 Referee: Mark Gorak

Wilmington Hammerheads v Richmond Kickers

April 1 2	Wilmington Hammerheads	0–0	Richmond Kickers	Wilmington
19:00 EDT	Perone  27' Parratt  69'	Report	Yeisley  44' Callahan  80' Yomby  85'	Stadium: Legion Stadium Referee: Neil Barbulescu

Richmond Kickers v Rochester Rhinos

April 9 3	Richmond Kickers	1–0	Rochester Rhinos	Richmond
17:00 EDT	Imura  61'	Report	Garzi  73'	Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 4,990 Referee: Matthew Franz

Bethlehem Steel v Richmond Kickers

April 17 4	Bethlehem Steel	2–1	Richmond Kickers	Bethlehem
19:00 EDT	Ayuk  21' Jones  46'  79'	Report	Imura  50' Pittman  53'	Stadium: Goodman Stadium Attendance: 2,417 Referee: Guido Gonzales

Charlotte Independence v Richmond Kickers

April 22 5	Charlotte Independence	3–2	Richmond Kickers	Charlotte
19:00 EDT	Calvert  43' Alajarín  54' Brown  61' Mizell  90' Herrera  90+2' (pen.)	Report	Jane  20' Sekyere  26' Yeisley  86' Delicâte  89'	Stadium: Ramblewood Soccer Complex Attendance: 1,239 Referee: David Erbacher

Richmond Kickers v Toronto FC II

April 30 6	Richmond Kickers	1–0	Toronto FC II	Richmond
17:00 EDT	Ownby  9'	Report		Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 3,655

Richmond Kickers v Wilmington Hammerheads

May 7 7	Richmond Kickers	1–0	Wilmington Hammerheads	Richmond
19:00 EDT	Perone  52' (o.g.) Ownby  54' Asante  90+1'	Report Box Score	Fairclough  33' Barnes-Homer  40' Doue  89'	Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 4,209 Referee: Danielle Cheskey

Toronto FC II v Richmond Kickers

May 11 8	Toronto FC II	1–0	Richmond Kickers	Vaughan
12:00 EDT	Hamilton  39' Bernal  75' Bouchard  82'	Report Box Score		Stadium: Ontario Soccer Centre Attendance: 1,222 Referee: Yusri Rudolf

New York Red Bulls II v Richmond Kickers

May 14 9	New York Red Bulls II	1–1	Richmond Kickers	Harrison
16:00 EDT	Abang  67'	Report Box Score	Asante  40' Ownby  90'	Stadium: Red Bull Arena Attendance: 168 Referee: Jaroslaw Werel

Richmond Kickers v Louisville City

May 21 10	Richmond Kickers	0–0	Louisville City	Richmond
19:00 EDT		Report Box Score		Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 3,411 Referee: Danielle Chesky

Richmond Kickers v FC Montreal

May 28 11	Richmond Kickers	1–2	FC Montreal	Richmond
19:00 EDT	Ownby  60',  88' Yomby  72' Asante  81'	Report Box Score	Riggi  53' Béland-Goyette  58' Tabla  77' Mkungilwa  90' Yoseke  90'	Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 4,147 Referee: Matthew Kreitzer

FC Cincinnati v Richmond Kickers

June 4 12	FC Cincinnati	1–1	Richmond Kickers	Cincinnati
19:00 EDT	Okoli  7',  12' Stevenson  25'	Report Box Score	Pittman  61' Lee  68' Roberts  90' Ownby  90'	Stadium: Nippert Stadium Attendance: 11,278 Referee: Luis Guardia

Richmond Kickers v Pittsburgh Riverhounds

June 11 13	Richmond Kickers	3–1	Pittsburgh Riverhounds	Richmond
17:00 EDT	Murrell  17' (o.g.) Gilstrap  20' (o.g.) Grant  67'	Report	Hertzog  90'	Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 4,017 Referee: Jaime Herrera

Charlotte Independence v Richmond Kickers

June 18 14	Charlotte Independence	1–0	Richmond Kickers	Charlotte
19:00 EDT	Calvert  30' Martinez  35'	Report	Callahan  40' Paulini  73'	Stadium: Ramblewood Soccer Complex Attendance: 1,564 Referee: Marco Vega

Richmond Kickers v Bethlehem Steel

June 25 15	Richmond Kickers	0–0	Bethlehem Steel	Richmond
19:00 EDT	Troyer  51' Sekyere  60'	Report	Jones  61'	Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 3,982 Referee: Matthew Franz

Charleston Battery v Richmond Kickers

July 2 16	Charleston Battery	2–0	Richmond Kickers	Charleston
19:30 EDT	Mueller  29' Cordoves  36' Marini  77'	Report	Ownby  86'	Stadium: MUSC Health Stadium Referee: Vincent Apple-Chiarella

Harrisburg City Islanders v Richmond Kickers

July 8 17	Harrisburg City Islanders	0–3	Richmond Kickers	Lancaster
19:00 EDT			Paulini  11' Jane  27' Callahan  75'	Stadium: Clipper Magazine Stadium Attendance: 1,381 Referee: Christopher Spivey

Pittsburgh Riverhounds v Richmond Kickers

July 14 18	Pittsburgh Riverhounds	0–2	Richmond Kickers	Pittsburgh
19:00 EDT	Earls  16' Campbell  44'		Imura  44' (pen.) Jane  67' Jane	Stadium: Highmark Stadium Attendance: 1,844

Richmond Kickers v Toronto FC II

July 23 19	Richmond Kickers	3–0	Toronto FC II	Richmond
19:00 EDT	Aguilar  11' Imura  49', 70' Sekyere  59'	Report		Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 4,179 Referee: Guido Gonzalez Jr.

Richmond Kickers v New York Red Bulls II

July 30 20	Richmond Kickers	2–1	New York Red Bulls II	Richmond
19:00 EDT	Dykstra  6' Imura  12' (pen.) Eskay  90+3'	Report	Allen  10' Carroll  13' Abang  65' Metzger  90+1'	Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 3,113 Referee: Artur Sibiga

Rochester Rhinos v Richmond Kickers

August 3 21	Rochester Rhinos	0–1	Richmond Kickers	Rochester
19:05 EDT	Kamdem  74'	Report	Roberts  54' Sekyere  60' Asante  70' Imura  74' Ownby  77'	Stadium: Sahlen's Stadium Attendance: 4,217 Referee: Charles Murphy

FC Montreal v Richmond Kickers

August 6 22	FC Montreal	1–2	Richmond Kickers	Montréal
15:00 EDT	Beland-Goyette  45' Riggi  87'	Report	Eskay  23' Mishu  45' Durkin  60' Luiz Fernando  63' Imura  88'	Stadium: Complexe sportif Claude-Robillard Attendance: 120 Referee: Chris Grabas

Richmond Kickers v FC Cincinnati

August 13 23	Richmond Kickers	1–1	FC Cincinnati	Richmond
19:00 EDT	Jane  63' Callahan  81' Troyer  86'	Report	Okoli  79' Wiedeman  81'	Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 3,093 Referee: Jorge Ramierz

Richmond Kickers v Charleston Battery

August 17 24	Richmond Kickers	Postponed	Charleston Battery	Richmond
19:00 EDT				Stadium: City Stadium
Note: Match postponed after 20 minutes of play and a 100-minute delay, due to severe weather.

Orlando City B v Richmond Kickers

August 21 25	Orlando City B	1–1	Richmond Kickers	Melbourne
19:30 EDT	Cox  44' (pen.) Laryea  52'	Report	Jane  53' Callahan	Stadium: Titan Soccer Complex Attendance: 642 Referee: Christina Unkel

Richmond Kickers v Orlando City B

August 27 26	Richmond Kickers	1–0	Orlando City B	Richmond
19:00 EDT	Thomsen  76'	Report		Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 3914 Referee: Mark Gorak

Richmond Kickers v Charleston Battery

August 31 24	Richmond Kickers	1–1	Charleston Battery	Richmond
19:00 EDT	Grant  50' Jane  88'	Report	Portillo  28'  69' Williams  45' Griffith  90'	Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 2647 Referee: JT Alukonis
Note: Rescheduled from August 17. Game was replayed in full.

Louisville City FC v Richmond Kickers

September 10 27	Louisville City FC	2–0	Richmond Kickers	Louisville
19:30 EDT	Lancaster  18' (pen.)  89' Craig  45' Rasmussen  55' Smith  90'	Report	Asante  67'	Stadium: Louisville Slugger Field Attendance: 7362 Referee: Brandon Artis

Richmond Kickers v Charlotte Independence

September 14 28	Richmond Kickers	0–0	Charlotte Independence	Richmond
19:00 EDT		Report	Martinez  42'	Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 3106 Referee: Matthew Franz

Richmond Kickers v Charleston Battery

September 17 29	Richmond Kickers	1–2	Charleston Battery	Richmond
17:00 EDT	Imura  34' (pen.)	Report	Ferguson  38' Guerra  50' Prince  62' Williams  71' Chang  86'	Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 6123 Referee: Gary Gutierrez

Wilmington Hammerheads v Richmond Kickers

September 24 30	Wilmington Hammerheads	2–0	Richmond Kickers	Wilmington
19:00 EDT	Barnes-Homer  16' Mecham  64' Moose  71'	Report		Stadium: Legion Stadium Attendance: 3395 Referee: Patrick Schmidt

USL Cup

Louisville City FC v Richmond Kickers

October 2 1	Louisville City FC	2–0 (a.e.t.)	Richmond Kickers	Louisville
19:00 EDT	Davis IV  92' Hoffman  102'	Report	Asante  5' Lee  18' Yeisley  34' Yomby  40' Troyer  42'	Stadium: Louisville Slugger Field Attendance: Andrew Musashe Referee: 5467

U.S. Open Cup

Main article: 2016 U.S. Open Cup

The Kickers entered the U.S. Open Cup with the rest of the USL, in the second round.

Richmond Kickers v Charlottesville Alliance FC

May 18 Second round	Richmond Kickers	4–0	Charlottesville Alliance FC	Richmond
7:00 PM EDT	Jane  2'  86' Roberts  25' Grant  48' Luiz Fernando  83'	Report Box Score	Harrison  53' Clare  61' Davis  88' McCartney  89'	Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 1,428 Referee: J. T. Alukonis

Fort Lauderdale Strikers v Richmond Kickers

June 1 Third round	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	1–1 (a.e.t.) (2–0 p)	Richmond Kickers	Pembroke Pines
11:00 AM EDT	Gonzalez  2' Fernandes  43' Vértiz  97' Giro  109'	Report	Imura  32' Grant  71' Pittman  106'	Stadium: Broward College South Campus Soccer Field Referee: Caleb Mendez
	Penalties
	Victor Núñez Santos Moura		Imura Paulini Yeisley Luiz Fernando

Transfers

In

Date	Player	Club	Fee	Ref
January 6, 2016	Sunny Jane	Wilmington Hammerheads	Free	[1]
February 23, 2016	Luiz Fernando Nascimento	Corinthians	Undisclosed	[2]
February 23, 2016	Romulo Peretta	Corinthians	Undisclosed	[2]
March 8, 2016	Sawyer Gaffney	Richmond Kickers Academy	Academy signing	[3]
March 14, 2016	Lucas Paulini	Atlanta Silverbacks	Free	[4]
March 24, 2016	Jackson Eskay	William & Mary Tribe	Free	[5]
April 5, 2016	Travis Pittman	Missouri Comets	Free	[6]

Out

Date	Player	Club	Fee	Ref
January 6, 2016	George Davis IV	Louisville City	Free	[7]

Statistics

First team roster

No.	Position	Player	Nation
0	Goalkeeper	Sawyer Gaffney	United States
1	Goalkeeper	Ryan Taylor	United States
2	Defender	Yomby William	Cameroon
4	Defender	Fred Sekyere	Ghana
5	Midfielder	Michael Callahan	United States
7	Forward	Matthew Delicâte	England
8	Defender	Hugh Roberts	United States
9	Defender	Anthony Grant	Jamaica
10	Forward	Sunny Jane	Lesotho
11	Forward	Luiz Fernando	Brazil
12	Forward	Rômulo Peretta	Brazil
14	Midfielder	Yudai Imura	Japan
15	Midfielder	Lucas Paulini	Argentina
16	Midfielder	Paul Clowes (on loan from D.C. United)	England
17	Forward	Jason Yeisley	United States
18	Defender	Alex Lee	Guam
20	Defender	Jalen Robinson (HGP; on loan from D.C. United)	United States
21	Midfielder	Nate Shiffman	United States
22	Forward	Brian Ownby	United States
23	Defender	Sascha Görres	Germany
24	Midfielder	Jackson Eskay	United States
25	Midfielder	Travis Pittman	United States
26	Midfielder	Miguel Aguilar (on loan from D.C. United)	Mexico
27	Midfielder	Collin Martin (HGP; on loan from D.C. United)	United States
28	Midfielder	Samuel Asante	Ghana
29	Midfielder	Conor Shanosky	United States
30	Goalkeeper	Charlie Horton (on loan from D.C. United)	United States
31	Defender	Braeden Troyer	United States
32	Midfielder	Scott Thomsen	United States
34	Defender	Luke Mishu (on loan from D.C. United)	United States
36	Goalkeeper	Ronnie Pascale	United States
37	Midfielder	Chris Durkin (HGP; on loan from D.C. United)	United States
40	Goalkeeper	Matt Turner (on loan from New England Revolution)	United States
45	Midfielder	Simon Finch	United States
46	Goalkeeper	Mark Nankervis	United States
48	Goalkeeper	Travis Worra (on loan from D.C. United)	United States
50	Goalkeeper	Andrew Dykstra (on loan from D.C. United)	United States

Goals and assists

No.	Pos.	Name	USL		USL Playoffs		U.S. Open Cup		Total
			Goals	Assists	Goals	Assists	Goals	Assists	Goals	Assists
14	MF	Yudai Imura	10	2	0	0	1	0	11	2
10	FW	Sunny Jane	4	1	0	0	1	0	5	1
9	DF	Anthony Grant	3	1	0	0	1	1	4	2
22	FW	Brian Ownby	3	3	0	0	0	0	3	3
11	FW	Luiz Fernando Nascimento	1	1	0	0	1	0	2	1
8	DF	Hugh Roberts	1	0	0	0	1	0	2	0
5	MF	Michael Callahan	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
17	FW	Jason Yeisley	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	1
15	MF	Lucas Paulini	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	1
32	MF	Scott Thomsen	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	1
7	FW	Matthew Delicâte	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
24	MF	Jackson Eskay	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
26	MF	Miguel Aguilar	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
4	DF	Fred Owusu Sekyere	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	2
18	DF	Alex Lee	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	2
25	MF	Travis Pittman	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1
28	MF	Samuel Asante	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1

Disciplinary record

No.	Pos.	Name	USL		USL Playoffs		U.S. Open Cup		Total
5	MF	Michael Callahan	6	1	0	0	0	0	6	1
28	MF	Samuel Asante	5	1	0	1	0	0	5	2
22	FW	Brian Ownby	5	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
18	DF	Alex Lee	3	1	1	0	0	0	4	1
4	DF	Fred Owusu Sekyere	4	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
25	MF	Travis Pittman	2	0	0	0	1	0	3	0
17	FW	Jason Yeisley	2	0	1	0	0	0	3	0
31	DF	Braeden Troyer	2	0	1	0	0	0	3	0
2	DF	William Yomby	2	0	1	0	0	0	3	0
10	FW	Sunny Jane	2	0	0	0	1	0	2	0
8	DF	Hugh Roberts	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
9	DF	Anthony Grant	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
15	MF	Lucas Paulini	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
24	MF	Jackson Eskay	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
34	DF	Luke Mishu	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
37	MF	Chris Durkin	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
50	GK	Andrew Dykstra	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0

References

1. "Kickers sign Sunny Jane". RichmondKickers.com. Archived from the original on January 20, 2016. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
2. "Kickers sign Brazilian strikers". RichmondKickers.com. Archived from the original on March 26, 2016. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
3. "Kickers add Academy goalkeeper". RichmondKickers.com. Archived from the original on April 1, 2016. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
4. "Kickers sign Lucas Paulini". RichmondKickers.com. Archived from the original on March 19, 2016. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
5. "Jackson Eskay Signs Deal With Richmond Kickers". TribeAthletics.com.
6. "RICHMOND 1, ROCHESTER 0". RichmondKickers.com. Archived from the original on April 11, 2016. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
7. Litner, Jonathan (January 15, 2016). "Louisville City FC signs former UK player". Louisville Courier-Journal. Courier-Journal.com. USA Today Network. Retrieved March 27, 2016.