RICHMOND, Va. – (Friday, September 20, 2019) – The Richmond Kickers (8-12-4) make the cross-country trip to face FC Tucson (8-9-7) Saturday night at Kino Sports Complex. Kickoff is set for 10:30 p.m. ET. The match will be available live on WTVR CBS 6.3 (Comcast 206, Verizon FiOS 466) and on ESPN+. 

 

This will be the third meeting this season between the Kickers and Tucson, with Richmond holding a slight 1-0-1 advantage. The first time these two teams met was back on May 11, which saw Joe Gallardo put the Kickers ahead with seven minutes to go until stoppage time. Mutaya Mwape added an insurance goal in stoppage time to give the Kickers the 2-0 victory at City Stadium. Nearly a month later, Richmond took the trip to Kino Sports Complex, with both teams battling to a scoreless draw. Akira Fitzgerald made two saves in the shutout. 

 

Richmond will be looking to keep their playoff hopes alive after falling to Forward Madison FC at City Stadium last Saturday night. The visitors jumped ahead after just six minutes when Josiel Nunez got a cross off just before reaching the endline for Christian Diaz to put away for the lone goal of the match. 

 

Tucson is coming off back to back shutout losses for the first time this season, most recently a 0-4 road loss to Greenville Triumph SC on the road at Legacy Early College. Carlos Gomez found the back of the net twice along with Aaron Walker converting from the penalty spot to give Triumph SC a 3-0 lead heading into halftime. Gomez completed his hat trick in the 87th minute for the final goal of the match. 

 

The Kickers are back on the road next Saturday night, making their second trip to Chattanooga Red Wolves SC. This match will also be available live on WTVR CBS 6.3 (Comcast 206, Verizon FiOS 466) and streaming on ESPN+. Keep up to date with the Kickers at RichmondKickers.com. 

 

Richmond: Named to the USL League One Team of the Week, defender Wahab Ackwei (#18) made 78 passes and completed 88.5 percent of those. Ackwei made seven clearances and had five interceptions in that same match, to go with his one clearance and six interceptions last Tuesday at North Texas. Defender Conor Shanosky (#5) showed why he is a staple in the Kickers back line, having won seven of his ten duels against Madison Saturday night. Shanosky completed 85.7 percent of his 85 passes during the match. Forward Dennis Chin (#15) is poised to reignite the Richmond offense after his two most recent goals at Tormenta FC. The Jamaican recorded four shots over his last two matches, narrowly being denied two chances on the road at North Texas SC. 

Tucson: Forward Jordan Jones (#99) leads Tucson in scoring with seven goals and tied for first with three assists in 18 appearances this season. That goal talley has him tied for eighth in USL League One. Midfielder Devyn Jambga (#16) has five goals in 22 matches this season. Jambga went 90 minutes in the road loss at Greenville, completing 70 percent of his 20 passes. Defender Lamar Batista (#22) has 55 clearances for Tucson over his 15 appearances this season. In his last outing at Greenville, Batista had a team high 52 passes, seven tackles and four clearances.