Preview: Playoffs on the Line as Kickers Face Familiar Foe

Opponent: Madison Forward FC (6-7-11)
Date/Time: Saturday, October 16th, 6:30 PM
Last Result: Kickers 2 – North Texas 1

Weather Forecast From WeatherBug.com

Three Things to Kick About

1. Playoffs – For weeks I’ve been saying that if we make the playoffs there is little chance of a home game. My tune is changing. A home playoff game is a real possibility. A win gets us in to the playoffs and another win or two and some other results get us a home game.
2. Unexpected Heroes – On Sunday the Kickers went down a goal and all eyes turned to golden boot leader Tergazhi. Instead it was two players that got their first USL1 goals of the season that came up big. In the 80th minute Argentinian Moran found himself with space to shoot and perfectly placed a shot into the upper 90 with his first touch, beating Richard Sanchez for a screamer of a goal, and earning his first goal of the season to bring the scoreline level at 1-1. The Kickers weren’t done. . Late into stoppage time, 95 minutes into the match, Vinyals delivered a set piece directly into the North Texas six-yard box. Ivan Magalhães muscled his way through the North Texas box, beat his marker and sent a thunderous header into the back of the net giving Richmond another dramatic, go-ahead goal.
3. Get to the Game – Attendance has been a bit of a roller coaster for the Kicker this year. This Saturday they need every supporter of local soccer in the stands to help push them over the line. It’s been 7 years since the Kickers hosted a playoff game, let’s do this folks.
4.  Bonus: Forward Madison – This team is the USL1 golden child. They’ve got a marketing team/budget that is second to none. They’ve tapped into a large fan base. This fawning hasn’t resulted in a winning team. The Flamingos as they’re called are having a bad run and are ripe for a Kickers win.

Prediction

Momentum, we’ve got. Injuries aren’t a major concern right now, (knock on wood). Forward Madison had to play a weeknight game before heading down to Richmond. This game is lining up in the Kickers favor.

Kickers 1 – Forward Madison 0.