RICHMOND, Va. – After having had Mother Nature delay its celebration to a little later in the evening than the side was expecting, there was a feeling of release when the final whistle went on Wednesday night in FC Cincinnati’s 4-1 victory against the Richmond Kickers at City Stadium, which not only clinched the 2018 USL Regular Season Championship for the visitors but also saw the side write itself into the USL record book for what may not be the final time this season.

After Emmanuel Ledesma’s 15th and 16th goals of the season and a goal and assist for Nazmi Albadawi had also led FCC to new USL modern-era single-season highs in wins (22) and points (72), surpassing the 2016 New York Red Bulls II in both categories, the scene in the locker room after the game was one no-one on hand will forget for a while.

“It’s honestly absolutely nuts,” said FCC Head Coach Alan Koch. “It’s amazing to see the guys that you go to work with every single day – players, staff, everybody – just absolutely ecstatic. Everybody is going nuts. It’s the epitome of what we do every single day. We’ve all sacrificed so much to achieve this. We’re all incredibly proud of everybody, we’re excited to share this moment with some of our fans that were here tonight, and we can’t wait to get back to Cincy.”

Not for the first time this season, the weather was part of the storyline as the celebration was delayed for more than an hour when lightning and heavy rain swept through the Richmond area just before the 60th minute. By that time, however, FCC’s own force of nature in Ledesma had made his presence felt as he became the first player in the USL’s modern era to contribute to 30 goals in a season, surpassing 2014 USL Most Valuable Player Kevin Molino (Orlando City SC) and 2015 USL Most Valuable Player Matt Fondy (Louisville City FC), who had both ended their award-winning years with a combined 29 goals and assists.

Ledesma’s first of the night arrived five minutes before halftime as he curled a corner kick from the right directly home, the delivery tucking just underneath the crossbar to restore the lead to the visitors after Richmond’s Heviel Cordoves had matched Albadawi’s opener eight minutes earlier. Four minutes later, Ledesma had his second of the night with a finish that was reminiscent of his long-range strike against the Kickers at Nippert Stadium, the angle of his finish from the right side not quite as acute as his previous strike but the precision with which it arrived into the top-left corner from outside the right edge of the penalty area something that has become a familiar sight this season. 

After Emery Welshman ensured thoughts of a Kickers’ comeback following the delay were brief with a solo effort in the 64th minute for his fourth goal of the year, the celebration was on. It’s one that will continue on Saturday night when FCC hosts its home regular-season finale against Indy Eleven, a night Koch and his squad are already looking forward to.

“Saturday will be a 100 percent carnival,” said Koch. “I’ve only been in Cincinnati for a few years, but I’ve heard the stories of the challenges our different sports teams have all had, and for us to receive a trophy on our own pitch on Saturday night, is going to be a very, very special night. I look forward to sharing that night, not only with FCC, but with the entire city of Cincinnati. It’s going to be a very, very fun night.”

As for who might suit up for the side as it takes aim at claiming what would be a modern-era 10th consecutive victory after tying Real Monarchs SLC’s nine-game streak set a season ago with its win on Wednesday night, that’s a detail Koch is going to be fine figuring out once the team gets back home and back onto the practice field on Friday.

“You could probably see some of the social media feeds, so there are probably going to be a few people – players, staff – that might not be feeling 100 percent healthy when they wake up tomorrow morning,” said Koch. “So, we’re going to have to take stock of everybody tomorrow. We travel back tomorrow, we train on Friday, we’ll see who’s all good to go for the game on Saturday.

“We’ve got three games to fine tune things to get ourselves ready for the postseason. There are a lot of players on our team that have sacrificed a lot, [and have] worked incredibly hard to be part of this group. I’d like to reward everybody through the final few games. Our focus now is obviously this cup competition that is ahead of us. We’ve got three games to work on some things, but we’re going to enjoy this tonight first.”