Preview: USL1 Golden Child Portland Comes to Richmond

Opponent:  Portland Hearts of Pine (3-12-2)
Date/Time: Saturday, August 21st,  7:00 PM
Last Result: 5-1 Loss Against Union Omaha

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Three Things to Kick About

1. Reminder – The Kickers played top of the table Union Omaha and it was a brutal reminder of gap between the Kickers and the best teams of USL1. Union Omaha ran roughshod over the Kickers and the score reflects it. The Kicker couldn’t keep pace with the Union and other than one very pretty goal the Kicker offense continued to struggle. If the Kickers make the playoffs and that is a massive “if” they need to find a way to do better against the top teams.
2. Wooden Spoon – The trophy nobody wants is the Wooden Spoon. Currently the Kickers are 1 point out of last place. With a Kicker loss and a New York Cosmo win the Kicker would drop to last. However a win and the Kickers could jump three spots. So as we enter the last third of the season the race is on to see who stays out of the basement.
3. Season Ticket Holder Event – On Wednesday the Kickers are hosting their mid-season event. Representing the Kickers will be owner Rob Ukrop, President and COO Camp Perry, and Coach Brian Ownby. Kudos on meeting with the fans in what is sure to be a little bit of an uncomfortable setting. The Kickers aren’t likely to make the playoffs this year and finished 2nd to last in 2025. The promises of being a competitive team haven’t appeared and the head coach Darren Sawatzky left the team mid-season. Fans will be hoping to hear a clear vision of the future.

Prediction

It’s not looking good for the home side. In all competitions the Kickers have been outscored 10-3 by Portland and Portland was a brand new team last year. This year Portland is struggling a bit and sits in 12th place, 4 spots above the Kickers. In most stats Portland is pretty much average for the league. I don’t need to tell you where the Kickers are. The one tiny bit of hope is that Portland is almost as bad at giving up goals as Richmond. Portland has conceded 36 while Richmond has given up 40.  So on the plus side no matter the result the game on Saturday we should see some goals. I do think that Portland will score more goals.

Portland – 3
Kickers – 1