April 23, 2018 USL Toronto FC II--Richmond Kickers vs Toronto FC II preview (from toronmtofc.ca)
Know your opponent: Richmond Kickers April 23, 2018 1:07PM EDT Adam Krueger Toronto FC II travel to Richmond, Virginia for a midweek clash with the Kickers. To get you set here is everything you need to know about the Kickers. 2018 Season The Kickers have not had the start to 2018, as they would have hoped for. The team has stumbled to a 1-3-1 start to begin their season. The one win came in a March 31st home match against North Carolina FC. Currently, the team is 1-1-1 at City Stadium. The draw came against New York Red Bulls II on April 7th. So far this season the Kickers have scored five goals and conceded nine. Forward Brian Shriver leads the team in scoring with two tallies. Current Form LDWLL Loss – at Louisville City (2-1) Draw – vs. New York Red Bulls II (1-1) Win – vs. North Carolina FC (2-1) Loss – vs. Indy Eleven (1-0) Loss – at Bethlehem Steel FC (4-1) All-time record All-time TFC II is 2-4-1 against the Richmond Kickers. Home field advantage has played a major part in the all-time series between these two clubs. TFC II is undefeated in Toronto against Richmond but has yet to pick up a win in Virginia. All-time TFC II is 0-4-0 at City Stadium. Last season the teams played to a 0-0 draw at the Ontario Soccer Centre and Richmond took the reverse leg 2-1 in August. Key Players The aforementioned Shriver leads the Richmond attack. The 30-year-old native of Clearwater, Florida is in his first season with Richmond. The journeyman has played for eleven teams in his 12-year professional career. This season Shriver has scored two goals with four shots through five games. Playing ahead of Shriver is Cuban Heviel Cordovés who has yet to score this season but has 27 career goals in the USL. The Kickers have rolled out in a 4-2-3-1 with two holding midfielders and a pair of wingers flanking Shriver. The two holding midfielders have been Koby Osei-Wusu and Yudai Imura. Osei-Wusu is a 22-year-old from Maryland who spent his youth career with DC United and played four years at George Washington University. The midfielder is average 23.5 passes per 90 minutes. Imura is a native of Japan who signed with Richmond in 2015 following an open tryout. He has made 67 appearances in four seasons with Richmond scoring 13 goals. Imura has one goal this season and is averaging 35.7 passes per 90 minutes. Imura was a USL second-team all-star in 2016. In defense, Richmond features two strong wing defenders in Braeden Troyer and Scott Thomsen. The two players currently lead the team in distribution. Troyer is in his fourth season in Richmond while Thomsen is in his second season after returning from a brief stint with Orlando City B last year. In net, Travis Worra and Trevor Spangenberg have each had a go. Worra has played four games on loan from DC United this season. The 25-year-old has made 19 MLS appearances since 2015. Canadian Content The only Canuck on the roster is Mallan Roberts. The Edmonton local is in his second season in Richmond following stints with FC Edmonton and the Ottawa Fury. Roberts has made one appearance for the Canadian national team making his debut in 2015 in a World Cup Qualifying match against Dominica. Wednesday night’s clash is set to kick off at 7:00 PM. You can catch all the action right here on TFC2.ca.
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