Terrible performances from professional soccer teams from the Greater-DMV continue, with the Richmond Kickers losing to the amateur Christos FC of Baltimore in the US Open Cup. The last lower-division semifinalists will be sent home in a similar manner to their other games so far this season.
The Richmond Kickers main problem this year has been the fact that they are just completely unable to score goals. Alhaji Kamara has not been the answer, Oliver Minitel has not been the answer, and Anthony Grant has not been the answer. The defense has been perfectly acceptable, with Conor Shanosky, Braeden Troyer, and company performing well enough, but the lack of goals has subverted any good things they’ve done.
The goal was a simple breakdown of that defense, however; Christos FC got numbers behind the Kickers defense, and the goalscorer split Shanosky and William Yomby to slot the ball past Marcel DeBellis.
The lack of production from Yudai Imura, the key player from last year, has been a large part of the problem; he has been out mostly due to injury and did not feature in this game. That combined with the fact that there were no D.C. United loanees for this game left the Kickers to their own devices.
The Kickers will try to recover this weekend against the Rochester Rhinos, while Christos FC will take on the Pittsburgh Riverhounds in the next round, unless the Riverhounds are upset.