The Richmond Kickers kicked off the 1995 US Open Cup with a 5-2 home win over fellow amateur side Spartans SC on a hot and humid afternoon in front of about 200 fans at the University of Richmond’s City Stadium.
The game wasn’t as close as the score indicated as Richmond jumped out to a 3-0 lead by the 21st minute.
Ben Crawley, an All-American and three-time national champion at the University of Virginia, opened the scoring in the 4th minute. Crawley connected on a header following a John Hall pass into the box.
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Khary Stockton, one of Richmond’s original players on the clubs inaugural 1993 roster, pushed the lead to 3-0 in the next 17 minutes. In the 13th minute, Stockton doubled the lead after dribbling past several Spartan defenders. The second tally for Stockton came a bit easier, as he found himself in front of an empty goal after Spartan goalkeeper Jan Pal DeWeer came out to challenge Rob Ukrop and failed to control the ball.
The undefeated USISL Premier side continued their onslaught just after halftime when Scott Snyder scored made it 4-0, his sixth goal in as many games.
Rob Ukrop finished the Kickers scoring in the 60th minute. The former national player of the year from Davidson College finished off a series of quick passes among teammates Richie Williams, Snyder and Crawley.
During the second half the Spartans frustration began to show, as they picked up four yellow cards and then going down a man in the 79th minute when Cecil Sutherland was red-carded for striking Ukrop in the back of the head.
The Spartans, who qualified after beating the New York Greek American Atlas in a penalty kick marathon in the USASA Region I Final, got on the board in the second half.
Richmond’s starting goalkeeper Jeff Causey, another part of the University of Virginia college soccer dynasty, was subbed off in the 61st minute. The three-time national champion watched from the sidelines as Luis Troncoso and Jamaican international Adonis Maxwell got shots past backup goalkeeper Joe O’Carroll in the 66th and 71st minutes to improve the scoreline. However, that’s as close as they would get as the game finished 5-2 in favor of the Kickers.
“They play a good brand of soccer” Richie Williams told the Richmond Times-Dispatch “it is slow, but they get frustrated, and they’re losing, and they start kicking, using elbows, and doing whatever they can to get you thrown out of the game”.
The Spartans arrived with just one substitute, claiming a mix-up in kickoff times prevented their use of more players. Six of the Spartan players also play for the USISL’s Washington Mustangs, and manager Jorge Alvial, was the Mustangs head coach until being fired.
The Spartans initially raised a complaint over the Kickers’ use of Scott Snyder, who has played with the Spartans before, but was cleared as he didn’t play in any of the Spartans’ Open Cup qualifying games.