MELBOURNE, Fla. (August 26, 2016) – Orlando City B (8-8-8, 32 points) will play the second leg of a home-and-home series against the Richmond Kickers (11-6-7, 40 points) on Saturday, Aug. 27. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. ET at Titan Soccer Complex. The match will be streamed live at www.OrlandoCitySC.com/Live.
“It’s always a strange situation when you play a team twice within a week. We obviously know a lot about them and the way that they want to try and play and I’m sure vice versa. They’re a good side with a good identity,” OCB Head Coach Anthony Pulis said. “No game on the road in this league is easy so we know it’s going to be a tough ask for us but the boys are in good spirits. We were pleased with our performance last week, obviously still areas where we can improve but we’re excited to go out there and hopefully put in another good performance.”
OCB and Richmond played to a 1-1 draw on Sunday, Aug. 21, at Titan Soccer Complex. Michael Cox scored his 10th goal of the season in the 44th minute when he slotted a clinical penalty kick after Richie Laryea was tripped up inside the box. Anthony Grant equalized for Richmond in the 53rd minute. Goalkeeper Mark Ridgers made four saves.
Ridgers is second in the United Soccer League (USL) and leads the Eastern Conference with 86 saves, 20 more than the next closest conference foe. Cox’s 10 goals lead the team while 2016 MLS SuperDraft first-round pick Hadji Barry and Tyler Turner have four goals each.
Yudai Imura leads the Kickers with nine goals and three assists while Tsotleho “Sunny” Jane has four goals and two assists. Goalkeeper Matt Turner leads the team with an .875 save percentage over 630 minutes.
OCB will be with First Team players Richie Laryea, Conor Donovan, Tyler Turner, Devron García and Rafael Ramos for this match.
With six games remaining, OCB sits in the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, six points from both seventh-place Charleston and ninth-place Bethlehem.
The Lions return to Titan Soccer Complex for the final time this regular season when they host the Pittsburgh Riverhounds on Saturday, Sept. 3, at 7:30 p.m. ET. OCB finishes the season on a four-game road trip, beginning Wednesday, Sept. 7, at Wilmington and ending on Sept. 25 at Bethlehem.
