Kickers play to 1-1 draw

The Richmond Kickers can be forgiven if they entertained the notion of tying one on.

Oops. Bad choice of words.

Midfielder Diego Martins scored on a 25-yard free kick in the 84th minute to lift the Charlotte Eagles to a 1-1 tie with the Kickers last night in a USL-2 match that added another exasperating link to Richmond's chain of early-season home-field frustration.

The Kickers (1-1-3) have accepted unfulfilling ties in each of their three home matches. They scored the first goal in each of those matches and were largely superior in each of those matches.

"We're disappointed, sure. But I don't think we're discouraged," said Richmond goalkeeper Ronnie Pascale. In the first two stalemates, against Harrisburg and Pittsburgh, "I felt like we were the better team for 90 minutes." Last night, in a matchup of teams expected to challenge for the USL-2 championship, "I felt li ke we did enough to win."

Pascale said the Kickers aren't playing poorly. He said they simply aren't playing well enough for long enough. Richmond is 0-1-1 in its past two outings despite outshooting its opponents by a combined 30-13.

Such, certainly, was the case last night. Eighty-four minutes of efficient defense pushed Richmond to the threshold of its first home victory. Even though it played with four forwards for much of the second half, Charlotte (0-2-2) seemed incapable of denting the Richmond goal.

Then an official's ruling -- a ruling with which the Kickers disagreed -- set the Eagles up for a free kick from seven or eight yards beyond the 18-yard box.

"To me, especially, in a game like this, that's a soft foul in a very dangerous spot at a very dangerous time," Pascale said. "It's a call that can affect the outcome of the game. And unfortunately for us, it did."

Pascale said he was told by the officiating crew that a Richmond player wrapped both arms around a Charlotte attacker and compounded the foul by clasping his hands. Said Pascale: "I didn't see anything that looked like that. I saw two guys battling for the ball."

Martins' goal was his second of the season. His shot cleared the defensive wall easily and dipped sharply -- "at least two feet," Pascale said -- as it approached the crossbar. "Give him credit," Pascale said. "It was a very good kick, considering the circumstances. He hit it about as well as he could possibly hit it."

Richmond collected its only goal of the evening on its only sustained thrust of the first half. A promising crossing pass by midfielder Luke Vercollone went for naught early in the possession, but Charlotte's inability to clear the ball toward midfield permitted Richmond to sustain its pressure.

Defender Evan Harding found forward Matthew Delicate on the left wing about, 15 yards from the net, and delivered a lovely feed. Delicate punched a hard, low shot past Eagles goalkeeper Kevin Trapp in the 16th minute. The goal was Delicate's third of the season.

The Kickers will resume their four-game homestand when they play host to Crystal Palace Baltimore next Saturday at 7 p.m.

Charlotte ------------------------- 0 1 -- 1
Richmond ------------------------- 1 0 -- 1

Scoring: 1, Richmond, Delicate 3 (Harding), 16th minute; 2, Charlotte, Martins 2, 84th.

Shots: Richmond 9-3

Saves: Trapp (Char) 4; Pascale (Rich) 1

Corner kicks: Richmond 2-0

Offsides: Charlotte 9-1

Fouls: Richmond 13-11 Yellow cards: Shak (Char) 40th; Hererra (Char) 90th; Williams (Char), 90th

Referee: Mark Gorak

Attendance: 1,842