The Richmond Kickers are out of sync but not out of sorts as they enter the make-or-break portion of their USL PRO schedule.
The Kickers, losers of their past two league contests, have slipped into third place in the American Division standings with four regular-season matches remaining. They trail second-place Wilmington by six points and lead fifth-place Charlotte by only four. Richmond must overtake Wilmington if it wishes to earn home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs. It must avoid tumbling to fifth place if it wishes to participate in the playoffs.
"We haven't been able to find our rhythm," said Kickers defender Sascha Gorres. "We need to do that. We have to do that. As important as it is to win (tonight's regular-season home finale against Dayton), I think it's just as important that we find a rhythm, a flow, that will send us into the playoffs in the best shape possible."
That quarry has thus far been elusive. Richmond (10-7-3) has scored only two goals, one of which was a penalty kick, in its past 270 minutes of USL PRO competition. Dominance in opportunities created and shots taken has not been reflected on the scoreboard.
"In just about every game we've played this year, I've felt like we could have and probably should have come away with a result," said Kickers forward Matthew Delicate. "I feel like very few teams have actually outplayed us."
Even in last Saturday's 2-0 loss at Pittsburgh, Delicate said, "I thought we created enough opportunities to win, no question about it."
Perhaps. Still, the fact remains: The Kickers won six and tied one of their first seven league matches, but have since played sub-.500 (4-7-2) against USL PRO opponents.
Delicate, the Kickers' top scorer with seven goals and three assists, believes the club's offensive arrhythmia is a function of a one-two punch delivered by circumstance at midseason. Injuries at the forward and midfield positions required a shuffled lineup. Simultaneously, the schedule became savage. The Kickers played four matches in 10 days in mid-June and five matches in 12 days in early July. When they weren't playing, they were traveling. Productive practice became a rarity.
"Going through that stretch where we didn't practice was tough," Delicate said. "Goal-scoring is all about feel and repetition, and we weren't getting the repetition we needed."
It shows. Delicate hasn't scored in a USL PRO match since June 12. A hamstring injury sustained in the Kickers' July 9 victory at Charlotte hasn't helped.
"I've been a little unlucky," he said. "But you can't get down on yourself when you miss. Do that, and your team will suffer because of it. You've just got to keep plugging away."
Gorres agreed.
"We're still alive," he said. "There's no reason to panic. We just need to keep working. We know what we're capable of. If we find some consistency and some rhythm (between now and season's end), believe me: We can win some games in the playoffs."
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