October 9, 2022 – United Soccer League One (USL1) – Richmond Kickers News Release
MADISON, Wis. – – The Richmond Kickers (14-7-8, 50 pts) won the USL League One regular-season title with a 1-0 win on the road at Forward Madison FC (7-11-11, 32 pts), Saturday night. Owayne Gordon scored the lone goal of the match off of an Ethan Bryant assist in the first half. Akira Fitzgerald earned his sixth clean sheet of the season and the Kickers earned their seventh overall clean sheet of the season.
The Roos claimed their first regular-season title since 2013. Across the club’s 30 seasons, it’s won a regular-season title five different times in 2001, 2006, 2007, 2013, and now 2022.
It’s the next milestone the club has been pushing for since the appointment of Head Coach Darren Sawatzky in November 2019. In each of Sawatzky’s first three seasons, the Kickers have enjoyed winning seasons while making their first playoff appearance since the 2016 season last year.
Now, the Kickers are set to host their first playoff game at City Stadium since 2014. As the top seed, the Roos will have a bye week during the USL League One Quarterfinals, presented by Hisense, before preparing to host a semifinal. A win in the semifinal will see the Kickers host their first championship at City Stadium since 2009 when the club last claimed a league championship.
Riding a seven-match unbeaten streak into Madison, the Kickers needed to earn all three points on the road to avoid extra drama on the final day of the season as second-place Greenville Triumph SC won their match against Charlotte Independence earlier.
The match began very defensively with only one off-target shot taken throughout the first third of the match. Then, in the 35th minute, the Kickers’ suffocating defense created the only goal of the match. Madison restarted play from a throw-in in its own half, and Bryant quickly pounced to steal possession, complete a spinning juke to create space, and lay the ball off to Gordon on the right wing with room to run.
The birthday boy raced past his defensive marker into the box, opted for power, and laced a shot with enough pace that an attempted block from a Madison defender could not prevent it from ricocheting into the back of the net.
With a lead in hand, the Kickers’ defense continued to constrict the Madison attack. Despite the hosts compiling almost 60 percent of the possession over the match and nearly 68 percent of possession in the second half, they never managed a shot on…