Kickers open 2009 season tomorrow

The Richmond Kickers open the 2009 season tomorrow when they host the Carolina RailHawks of the USL First Division at 7 p.m. at Sports Backers Stadium. Past Kickers Caleb Norkus and John Gilkerson return to face off against their former team. Kickers former fan favorite Matt Watson is due to join the RailHawks following the Baltimore Blast’s indoor season. Regularly priced admission will apply at $12 for adults and $7 for youth ages 3-17. Avoid lines at the gate and order tickets in advance via the Kickers’ web site.

“The RailHawks exhibition is an important early test for the squad,” Richmond Kickers head coach Leigh Cowlishaw said. “The RailHawks have signed several high profile players and will clearly be a USL Championship contender this season. We anticipate an entertaining but extremely competitive match that will prepare us well for our upcoming season.”

The Kickers and the RailHawks have met twice before, splitting the series 1-1. A pre-season exhibition featuring the RailHawks opened the Kickers 2007 season with the home team handing a 3-1 result to the USL-1 expansion franchise. Later that season, the two clubs met for a rematch in Cary N.C., during the 2007 US Open Cup Quarterfinals with the RailHawks edging the Kickers from cup competition by a narrow 1-0 margin.

In 2008, Carolina narrowly missed playoff contention during their sophomore campaign, finishing in eighth place in the USL-1 standings for the second consecutive season. Despite a 5-2-1 comeback, the RailHawks concluded the season with a 9-11-10 record and 37 points. Meanwhile, US Open Cup play saw the RailHawks ousted in the third round to Major League Soccer side Kansas City Wizards. One year prior, the US Open Cup saw the rookie franchise make a historic run to the semifinals where they just missed a championship berth during a closely contested 2-1 affair against the eventual winners New England Revolution.

The RailHawks enter into their third season with new head coach, Martin Rennie, at the helm. A two-year coach of the Cleveland City Stars, Rennie claimed the USL-2 Coach of the Year award in 2007 and was honored again in 2008 as the USL-2 FieldTurf Tarkett Coach of the Year before making the move to the USL-1 team during the offseason. With just two seasons under his belt, Rennie and the City Stars ousted the Kickers from postseason play en route to taking the Championship crown in 2008.

The Richmond Kickers enter their 17th season as a member of the United Soccer Leagues family. Over the past 16 seasons, Richmond has qualified for post-season play 13 times, including six championship appearances. The Kickers reached the title match in 2007 for the fourth time in the past six seasons, narrowly missing their second consecutive league title after nine rounds of penalties. Richmond’s five previous league championship appearances (1995, 1996, 2002, 2005, 2006) include winning the Premier League title in 1995, a shoot-out loss to Seattle in the USL First Division final in 2005 and taking the USL Second Division crown in 2006. In 2008, the Kickers fell short of another Championship berth after falling 1-0 in overtime to the eventual champions, Cleveland City Stars.