The Richmond Kickers travel north on Interstate 95 to take on D.C. United in the third round of the U.S. Open Cup tonight at George Mason University. The fact that D.C. United plays in Major League Soccer (MLS), while Richmond is in the second division of the United Soccer League (USL-2), makes this a mismatch on paper, but the Kickers have a legitimate shot to pull off an upset. Since 1999, the teams have met regularly, with Richmond getting its fair share of wins, including a 2-1 victory over D.C. in the third round of the 2004 Open Cup. (Interesting stat: The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that the Kickers hold a 4-3-2 lead in the series, while United's official website, DCunited.com, says D.C. has a 5-3 lead. D.C. or Richmond needs to clear up the reasons for the disparity before FIFA gets involved and manages to make it even more complicated).
The Kickers have experience knocking off other MLS teams in the Open Cup as well, as they defeated the L.A. Galaxy 1-0 in the third round of the competition in 2007. The Richmond squad should have a couple of other motivational factors going for them as well: if they advance further than any other USL-2 team in the tournament, the club gets a $10,000 bonus from the league (there are two other USL-2 teams left: Charleston and Harrisburg). So while a win tonight doesn't necessarily mean they get the cash, a loss probably means they'll miss out on the money. The players also know that this is a good opportunity to impress coaches from a MLS club and perhaps get a chance to step up to that level in the future, so they will certainly want to give their best effort. Several players have made the jump in the past, with midfielder Clyde Simms, a former Kicker, now a regular in the D.C. United starting line-up. D.C. United is struggling this year and is currently in last place in the MLS Eastern Conference, so they will be hungry to get a win and get some positive momentum as they head towards the middle of their season.
The match kicks off at 7:30pm at George Mason University's soccer complex in Fairfax, and tickets are $25 (cash only). The winner advances to the quarterfinals, where they will face the winner of the Red Bull New York-Harrisburg match. Richmond-D.C. has the potential to be a good contest, which is just what soccer fans need as they try to cope with the absence of World Cup matches until the quarterfinals begin on Friday morning. Leave your thoughts and predictions in the comments section or email them to the newsroom at TalkFooty@gmail.com.
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