Orlando City B at Richmond Kickers: Preview and How to Watch

With just three games remaining in the USL regular season, Orlando City B (9-8-12, 39 points) sits one point out of the final playoff spot as the young Lions travel to Virginia to face the Richmond Kickers (7-14-8, 29 points) today at 5 p.m.

OCB struggled after its 12-game undefeated streak ended against the Kickers, but was able to hold the damage to just two games as the Lions got back to their winning ways last week against the Charleston Battery. However, the Bethlehem Steel sat just behind the young Lions with a game in hand and took advantage of the extra game. The Steel have gone on a five-game unbeaten streak, which catapulted them past OCB and into that coveted eighth position.

This evening, OCB will look to climb closer to reclaiming the eighth position as it takes on a Kickers team that sits near the bottom of the conference. This will be the third and final time these two sides will face off this season, having split the first two games. On Aug. 12, the young Lions went up to Richmond and brought back three points, defeating the Kickers 1-0 on a Hadji Barry 24th-minute goal.

In the return game, OCB was undone by two Richmond goals, six minutes apart and on each end of halftime. The 2-0 loss ended the team’s 12-game unbeaten run that had stretched back to June 23.

OCB is just 1-2-1 in the all-time series with the Kickers.

“Huge game Sunday night at Richmond,” OCB Head Coach Anthony Pulis said about the game. “Tough place to go. We’ve played them twice already and they’ve given us two difficult games. We know going there it’s not going to be easy. But the guys have trained really well this week coming off the back of a good result and a good performance last week against Charleston. Hopefully, we can keep this momentum going now through the last three games of the season. But the focus is 100 percent on Richmond.”

While OCB still has a good chance to make the playoffs, the young Lions will need some help as the Bethlehem Steel played Saturday night, so the will still have one game in hand on the young Lions after tonight’s match. Furthering the trouble, OCB will remain without Earl Edwards, Jr. and, likely, Seb Hines, who have joined the senior team.

While Richie Laryea and Seb Hines’ yellow card accumulation may not matter due to their joining the first team, Fernando Timbo and Zach Carroll are two key members of OCB that are one caution away from a one-game suspension. Missing either of those two could be very detrimental to the team’s chances of qualifying for the playoffs.

Most Recent Lineups

Orlando City B (9/23 vs Charleston Battery): Jake Fenlason; Rafael Ramos, Zach Carroll, Conor Donovan, Zach Ellis-Hayden; Paul Clowes, Danny Deakin, Jordan Schweitzer, Lewis Neal, Pierre Da Silva; Hadji Barry.

Richmond Kickers (9/23 vs Rochester Rhinos): Travis Worra; Alex Lee, Braeden Troyer, William Yomby, Mallan Roberts; Yudai Imura, Matt Bolduc, Oscar Umar, Sunny Jane, Raul Gonzalez; Oliver Minatel.

How to Watch

The 5 p.m. ET kickoff from City Stadium in Richmond, VA, can be streamed from the official USL YouTube page or at orlandocitysc.com/live. For rapid reaction and live updates, follow @OrlandoCityB and @TheManeLand on Twitter.