Preview: Kickers head out west for first-ever matchup with Central Valley Fuego FC

The Kickers kick off a three-game road trip Saturday night in Fresno

RICHMOND, Va. – The Richmond Kickers (7-5-4, 25 pts) open a three-game road trip against Central Valley Fuego FC (5-5-5, 20 pts) on Saturday night in Fresno, California. 

This weekend’s contest will be the first-ever meeting between the two sides and the first of three on the season. The Kickers will travel back out to Fresno on Aug. 20 before Fuego FC come to City Stadium to round out the season series on Sept. 24.

Buoying the efforts for the Roos is the recent addition of veteran USL forward Ethan Vanacore-Decker from the Northern Colorado Hailstorm. He brings additional experience and depth to the attack ahead of a demanding cross-country road trip. 

Vanacore-Decker led the league in assists in 2020 and won the title with Union Omaha in 2021.

Last time out, the Kickers fell 3-1 to league-leading Greenville Triumph SC as the sides held serve at No. 1 and No. 2 in the table respectively. 

Trailing 2-0 in the 72nd minute, Matthew Bentley cut the lead in half when he headed home a goal off a cross from Nil Vinyals. Bentley’s goal spurred on a surge from the Richmond attack as they pushed for a late equalizer, narrowly missing a pair of chances to square the match. Ultimately, Greenville found an insurance goal in the 89th minute.

Bentley now has five goals on the season, second-most on the Kickers and top 10 in USL League One, and Nil Vinyals’ team-leading 26 chances created are good enough for sixth in the league.

Despite the loss over the weekend, the Kickers’ form is one of the best in the league over the last two months. 

The Kickers have tallied 17 of a possible 27 points over that stretch with only two dropped results in the last 50 days. That pace is good enough to have finished in the top two – and earned a first-round bye – in each season since the Kickers entered the league in 2019.

Fuego FC enter this weekend coming off a thrilling victory at Northern Colorado. Christian Chaney scored in the second minute of stoppage time to best the Hailstorm 1-0 and halt their two-match losing skid. 

The goal was Chaney’s fifth on the season. With Irvin Parra on seven and Villyan Bijev also on five, Fuego FC are the only club in League One with three players in the top 10 in goals scored this season. 

Following this Saturday’s match, the Kickers are away from home for two more games before returning home on Aug. 6 to take on FC Tucson.