Kickers face ACC Champions, Maryland in Pro-Am Challenge

RICHMOND, VA – (Wednesday, February 9, 2011) – The Richmond Kickers are pleased to host University of Maryland and the second annual Pro-Am Challenge on Saturday, March 12.  Kickoff is set for 5:00 p.m. at the Kickers state-of-the-art sports complex Ukrop Park.  Just 500 tickets are available for $5.00 each, youth and adult, and are on sale now at RichmondKickers.com.

"Maryland has consistently been one of the top college programs in the country and the Pro-Am Challenge creates an added edge to our regular pre-season game,” comments Leigh Cowlishaw, Richmond Kickers Head Coach and Director of Soccer.  “We have played Maryland several times over the last 15 years and the contests always produce great soccer and highly spirited affairs. The match-up will be an ideal pre-season test for our squad."

The Kickers welcome the 2010 ACC Champions University of Maryland Terrapins to open their 19th season.  Finishing the regular season on a 13-game winning streak with a 17-2-1 record, the Terps garnered the second overall seed into the NCAA Tournament before falling 3-2 to Michigan in the Quarterfinals.  NCAA National Champions in 2005 and 2008, the Terps have produced 17 straight winning seasons, with 2010 marking their 30th appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

“We are looking forward to facing Richmond in the PRO-AM Challenge,” adds Sasho Cirovski, Maryland Head Coach.  “The Kickers are a tremendous franchise and we have a great deal of respect for Leigh and his staff.  All of our friendlies have been of high quality and I expect this to be no different.  Even though we lost seven starters, with five going to MLS and two others to graduation, we have a lot of talent returning.  It will be an exciting match.”

In addition to the Pro-Am Challenge on March 12, the Kickers will face an intense lineup of closed door preseason scrimmages including matches against Longwood University, Old Dominion University, Virginia Commonwealth University and Carolina RailHawks (NASL).  The 2011 USL PRO regular season commences three weeks later, when the Kickers play host to Orlando City on Saturday, April 2.

Established in 1993, the Richmond Kickers have consistently been one of the most successful professional soccer clubs in America.  Over the past 18 seasons, Richmond has qualified for postseason play 16 times, and reached the title match in 2010 for the sixth time in the past nine campaigns, falling just short of the Championship title following a 2-1 loss to the Charleston Battery.  Richmond’s seven previous league Championship appearances (1995, 1996, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009) include winning the Premier League title in 1995, a shoot-out loss to Seattle in the USL First Division final in 2005 and taking the USL Second Division crown twice against Charlotte in 2006 and 2009.

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