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The Richmond Kickers cruised on the strength of two Matthew Delicate goals and some spectacular goalkeeping from Andrew Dykstra to beat Orlando City SC and clinch the Commissioner's Cup, the USL Pro regular season championship. While both teams have one game remaining, the Kickers now own the first tiebreaker over Orlando City, which is head to head.
Delicate opened the scoring in the 24th minute. Joseph Ngwenya started the play by receiving the ball in midfield and making a great move to get away from his man. He then made it to the endline to put in a cross, which Delicate clipped off the back post and into the goal. A mere five minutes later, Delicate scored his second goal and put the Kickers in complete control of the game. Brian Ownby, the Houston Dynamo loanee, found Delicate in the box with a cross; the Kickers' all-time leading scored did not miss the header.
If Matthew Delicate was the star of the first half, then Andrew Dykstra was the star of the second. He made five saves, most of them difficult ones at that, and his distribution took the pressure off of the Kickers' back line. He seemed to have pulled a Bill Hamid special when he took out Long Tan in the box and had a penalty called on him. However, he did not get carded and, after being ordered back to his goal by the referee, he watched the ball fly harmlessly over his net.
With this win, Andrew Dykstra, Conor Shanosky, and Michael Seaton become the first United players to win silverware since 2008, and no players from that team (save Ben Olsen) remain with the team. This win also means that the Kickers have clinched home field advantage throughout the playoffs, including the opportunity to host the playoff finals. The Kickers play the Pittsburgh Riverhounds this weekend in Pittsburgh and then open the playoffs on August 24th at City Stadium.