Richmond (Sept. 3) - Despite being dominated for much of their first-ever playoff match, the Syracuse Salty Dogs continued their winning ways with a 1-0 victory over the Richmond Kickers. The win marked the Dogs' third straight win over their Eastern Conference A-League rivals.
In the 63rd minute, Syracuse's Ian Woan lofted a corner kick from the offensive left into the far side of the box. Defender Rene Rivas got airborne and laid a header right at the feet of teammate Lars Lyssand, who tapped it home for the only goal of the match.
But it was the Dogs' defensive corps, and keeper Byron Foss in particular, that kept the Syracuse side in position for the victory. Foss made a pair of point-blank saves on what looked to be almost sure Kicker goals.
In the 25th minute Richmond forward Matt Delicate took a Richie Williams chip inside the keeper's box and blasted it at the net, only to find Foss there to smother it. And in the 50th minute, Foss dove to his left to rob Richmond's Kevin Jeffrey, who fired inside the near post after taking a long ball down the right wing. The Kickers' other good scoring chance came in the 73rd minute when Tim Brown sent the ball high into the box to Joey Worthen, who headed it just over the crossbar.
In the first half, the Salty Dogs controlled play for the first eight to 10 minutes with good ball movement and tight passing. Richmond picked up the pace however and kept the ball in the Syracuse end for much of the rest of the half. Though Syracuse listed its standard four defenders and four midfielders on the starting lineup card, two of those midfielders, Ryan Hall and Kupono Low, generally play on the backline as well. This defense-heavy lineup seemed to lapse into a "prevent defense" about halfway through the first stanza - the few times a Syracuse player broke into the Richmond end, he often found himself alone with no help.
After the Syracuse goal in the second half, the game began to get rough with numerous fouls and players crashing to the turf. Dogs' midfielder Low left the game in the 72nd minute with an ankle injury. He was later seen walking off the field with an ice bag taped to it. While the Kickers dominated much of the match, they certainly could have used the talents of speedy forward McColm Cephas, their leading scorer, who is playing with the Liberian national team in a pair of World Cup qualifying matches in Zambia.
Dog Bites: A crowd of 2,776 took in the match on a beautiful evening. Despite the recent heavy rains in Richmond, the pitch at University of Richmond Stadium appeared to be in great shape. … The Kickers wore their all-red kits while the Salty Dogs dressed in their all-blacks. … While the stadium and SUNY Cortland, where the two sides will meet for game two, is a fine facility, it is unfortunate that the Syracuse SkyChiefs AAA baseball club could not be generous enough to move their Sept. 5 game to accommodate their more successful co-tenants. The Chiefs play Ottawa that day in a meaningless game to help decide last place in the International League's North Division. … The Salty Dogs are now 12-1-2 in their last 15 matches. … A big "Thank You" to Shelley Sowers and the rest of the Richmond Kickers' staff. Their hospitality and assistance this season was outstanding!
Lineups: Syracuse: Foss, Lyssand, Rivas, Sanfillippo, Schweitzer, Hall, Suarez (O'Neill - 79), Woan, Low (Maher - 72), Steele, Barnes-Homer (Carabajal - 33). Richmond: Pascale, Fox (O'Toole - 78), T. Williams, Luzak, Knight, R. Williams (Burke - 64), Simms, Brown, Jeffrey, Worthen, Delicate (Ukrop - 78).
Statistics: Shots: Syracuse - 2, Richmond - 11; Saves: Foss (Syr.) - 3, Pascale (Rich.) - 0; Fouls: Syracuse - 18, Richmond - 12; Offsides: Syracuse - 4, Richmond - 1; Corners: Syracuse - 1, Richmond - 3; Cautions: Syracuse - 3 (Suarez - 13, Rivas - 53, Woan - 81) Richmond - 2 (Brown - 76, Burke - 78).
