To complete their whirlwind tour of the Midwest, the Richmond Kickers will partake in a time-honored USL PRO tradition: two games in one weekend. After beating the Oklahoma City Energy 4-1 on Friday night, they will take on the Chicago Fire Reserves immediately after the Fire's game against Sporting Kansas City ends. All games against MLS reserve teams do count in the USL PRO standings, so this game counts just as much as any others.
Time: 5:30 PM EDT
Venue: Toyota Park, Bridgeview, IL
Streaming: Even MLS Reserve teams are getting on the YouTube streaming action, so you can watch this game live and in color.
D.C. United players in attendence: Michael Seaton, Christiano Francois, Conor Shanosky, and Joe Willis all started for the Kickers on Friday, so I expect all of them to be there. None of Collin Martin, Taylor Kemp, Kyle Porter, or Jared Jeffrey made the bench for United in yesterday's game, so it is possible that the team would send some of them to Chicago to join the Kickers.
Projected Richmond Kickers starting XI: Joe Willis will start in goal, and I think that Alex Lee, Conor Shanosky, William Yomby, and Taylor Kemp will be in front of him. Luke Vercollone and Jared Jeffrey will start in defensive midfield, with Tishan Hanley, Collin Martin, and Jason Yesiely in front of them. Michael Seaton will get the start up top.
Prediction: With the Fire coming off of a key game, their Reserve team will be cobbled together between actual reserves, players who may have made substitute appearances in the game, and maybe even academy kids. Give me a 2-1 victory for the Kickers.
What are you drinking? I've still got some Bells Oberon around, so probably one of those.
As always, this is your place for pre-game, in-game, and post-game talk.