The Richmond Kickers won their Second Round match of the 2023 US Open Cup, 3-2 over Cleveland SC. The three-time USL League One MVP and Golden Boot winner, Emiliano Terzaghi scored two goals and assisted on another by Dakota Barnathan in what would end up being a close match between the two sides.
This match was a test of endurance between the two sides and the fans. The cup tie was scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m., but storms would delay the match for a couple of hours. The initial kick off finally took place at 9:43 p.m., but after another delay, the match would not end until 12:49 a.m.
The win means that the Kickers will move on to Round 3 where they will travel to renew an old rivalry. Richmond will take on D.C. United of Major League Soccer for the seventh time in Open Cup play. It is the second most common matchup of the Modern Era, but the two teams haven’t met since 2013, when D.C. won in penalties.
Another angle on the Kickers’ goal while we wait…@RichmondKickers | @SoccerCLE | #USOC2023 pic.twitter.com/Xynjl8lXck
— U.S. Open Cup (@opencup) April 7, 2023
From the kickoff, Richmond maintained possession and was on the front foot of the match. The Kickers had several good chances throughout the first half, but the first goal would not come until the 31st minute when Emiliano Terzaghi finished a chance provided by Matt Bentley across the face of the goal.
After Terzaghi’s goal, the game would enter its second weather delay. The stoppage began in the 35th minute and the game wouldn’t resume until 11:33 p.m. The resilience of the teams and the fans were tested as the Kickers and Cleveland SC would wait patiently in their locker rooms for over an hour. The delay would eventually come to an end and the teams would play the final 12 minutes of the first half before halftime.
After halftime the Kickers came out again on the front foot. They limited Cleveland’s ability to get on the ball while maintaining the majority of possession in the early part of the second half. After a few half chances, the Kickers would finally break through for their second goal. The Kickers had a streak of corner kicks that finally saw the ball ending up in the back of the net. Nil Vinyals fed a ball into the box to Terzaghi who would eventually put it away for the Kickers’ second goal of the night in the 59th minute.
The Kickers proceeded to attack Cleveland despite their 2-0 lead and they scored a third goal off the foot of Dakota Barnathan, an alum of the local university in Richmond, Virginia Commonwealth University. Another corner kick was taken at the 79th minute and the ball would eventually land at Barnathan’s feet via an assist by Emiliano Terzaghi. Dakota put away his chance from the six yard box and Richmond held a 3-0 lead.
However, Cleveland SC fought hard to stay in the game. Immediately after Barnathan’s goal, Tom Beck scored a goal assisted by Kieran Toland after a string of beautiful passes down the left flank of Richmond’s defense. At the 80th minute, the score would be 3-1. Cleveland SC would make things really interesting at the 86th minute when Skye Harter scored from a free kick just outside the 18 yard box. Cleveland SC scored their second goal of the night and it would be 3-2. However, Cleveland would not threaten again after that point and the Richmond Kickers held onto their 3-2 lead to advance to the Third Round where they will face D.C. United.
The match initially appeared to be a dominant performance by the Richmond Kickers, but it would eventually become a survive and advance match for the home side. The Richmond Kickers head coach, Darren Sawatzky said, “it was a really interesting night, having the time off was really frustrating and difficult for all of us, tonight was about surviving and advancing and we’ll go back to the drawing board and get back to work.”
The US Open Cup invites teams to fight through adversity and eventually come out on the other side. The Richmond Kickers were able to fight through three hours of weather delays, maintain their focus, and secure a 3-2 victory over Cleveland SC.
With the win, Richmond has advanced 36 times in the US Open Cup in club history. The 1995 champions are now tied with the LA Galaxy for 7th most in the Modern Era (1995-present).
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