Location: UNCC Transamerica Field, Charlotte, NC
Game Conditions: Stormy, Humid, 86° at game time
Attendance: 1,247
Starting Line-ups
Charlotte Richmond
1 GK Richard Goddard 3 D Kevin Knight
2 D Ben Johnson 5 D Chris Fox
4 D Nate Watkins 8 D Khary Stockton
5 D Kevin O'Brien 10 F Kevin Jeffrey
6 D Hugo Galeano 11 M Tony Williams
10 F Caleb Norkus 14 F Josh Henderson
11 D Dwayne Demmin 20 M Marco Ferruzi
16 M Jose Gomez 22 GK Ronnie Pascale
18 F Dustin Swinehart 23 M David Hayes
19 M Jamie Wellington 25 D Peter Luzak
23 M Andy McDermott 26 M Bryan Namoff
Game Summary:
The Eagles and the Kickers played the second of back-to-back games Saturday night in Charlotte. Friday night, the Eagles defeated the Kickers in Richmond by a score of 4-2 (for 5 points) on a very hot, humid evening. The season series now stands at 1-1-1 with the teams playing to a 0-0 tie in Richmond on Memorial Day and Richmond winning in Charlotte 4-2 on July 24th. The Kickers chose to play a large number of their reserves in the game Friday night while the Eagles played their regular lineup. I would have thought the Kickers would play for the win at home and then play the reserves on the road, but I'm not the coach. The Kickers are in the playoffs and fighting for playoff position while the Eagles have no choice but to play all out for wins in order to try to catch Toronto for the sixth and final playoff spot. This was a must-win for the Eagles as Toronto defeated Rochester Friday night 2-1 for four points, so the Eagles only picked up one crucial point. At game time Saturday, they still trailed Toronto by six points and had to win their two remaining games to have any chance of getting into the playoffs.
Opening kickoff Saturday night was delayed for 30 minutes due to high wind, rain and lightning. Once the game started, it took the players a little while to adjust to the wet field, and things did not look good for the Eagles as Richmond was applying most of the offensive pressure early. A chance finally came for the Eagles as Dwayne Demmin scored on a header off of a Jamie Wellington corner kick for the game's only goal in the 37th minute of play. The Eagles then managed to hold onto their lead for the remaining 53 minutes for their second win of the weekend, closing the point gap to 2 by defeating Richmond 1-0 as Toronto lost to Rochester 2-0. The Eagles now have to beat Rochester (in Rochester) next Friday night and hope that Toronto either loses or ties Atlanta (in Toronto) in order to earn the sixth and final Eastern Conference playoff berth.
Some Richmond fans complained about the corner kick that led to the Eagles only goal of the match. It was a close call, but the call was made and Richmond needed to play defense against the corner kick. I have never seen a referee reverse a corner kick call, so it was a poor choice to argue the call. The fans thought the call was incorrect and that the kick was taken too quickly. I disagree with the "quick call" argument. Demmin, a defender, had time to come all the way up field and get ready for the kick. The Richmond defenders should have stopped whining about the call and prepared for the kick. They had plenty of time and it is a poor excuse for terrible defense. Charlotte's performance on corner kicks has not been stellar this year, so there is no excuse. There are poor calls in every game (too many in most games, it seems) and I cannot say with certainty that the corner awarded to the Eagles was a correct call. However, I can say with certainty that Jamie Wellington placed a perfect ball into the scoring area that Dwayne Demmin wanted to get to more than the Richmond defenders and the result was a header into the net. It was the Eagles best corner of the season and ended up being the game-winner.
The Eagles played well, but looked very tired throughout the match. They were a step slow all night, but did what they had to do for the win. These were two big wins for a team that had endured some heart-breaking losses in the past few weeks. They played well enough to beat Charleston in back-to-back games only to lose the lead in the closing seconds of both games. If the Eagles make the playoffs, I believe they will have an excellent chance to advance beyond the first round. Richmond, on the other hand, played very uninspired on both the offensive and defensive ends of the field. They had an incredible number of shots on goal, but most of those shots were very wide left or right and not true scoring opportunities. The real scoring opportunities they had were good ones and without the excellent play of Richard Goddard (who played his best game of the season), Richmond could easily have won the game. Richmond is slumping and at a very bad time of the season. Three weeks ago, I though Richmond would be in a close fight with Charleston for the top spot in the division. I don't know what has happened, but they are not that same team. They need to get their enthusiasm turned back on or it could be an early exit from the playoffs for a very talented team.
Game Stats
Scoring 1 2 1OT 2OT Final
Charlotte 1 0 1
Richmond 0 0 0
Shots 1 2 1OT 2OT Final
Charlotte 0 0 0
Richmond 0 0 0
Saves 1 2 1OT 2OT Final
Charlotte 3 7 10
Richmond 14 13 27
Fouls 1 2 1OT 2OT Final
Charlotte 6 4 10
Richmond 2 11 13
Offsides 1 2 1OT 2OT Final
Charlotte 1 0 1
Richmond 0 1 1
Corners 1 2 1OT 2OT Final
Charlotte 4 3 7
Richmond 2 5 7
Cautions
Min. 57 Chris Fox Richmond
Min. 70 Tony Williams Richmond
Min. 87 Bryan Namoff Richmond
Min. 90 Marco Ferruzi Richmond
Substitutions
Team Minute Player In Player Out
Richmond 46th Rob Ukrop Josh Henderson
Charlotte 56th Rob Mouw Caleb Norkus
Charlotte 56th Jacob Coggins Jamie Wellington
Charlotte 58th Leo Gajardo Jose Gomez
Richmond 73rd Ray Goodlett Chris Fox
Charlotte 77th Carlos Calderson Dustin Swinehart
Charlotte 86th Jeremy Sorzano Nate Watkins
