# 2023 Richmond Kickers season

The 2023 Richmond Kickers season was the club's 31st season in existence, their fifth season in USL League One, and their 19th season in the third tier of American soccer. The Kickers will be led by fourth-year head coach, Darren Sawatzky. The USL League One season started on March 18, 2023.

## Background

The 2022 season was the club's 30th season of existence, their fourth season in USL League One, and third year under head coach Darren Sawatzky. The Kickers had their strongest regular season showing since 2013 and won the USL League One regular season title with 51 points; they amassed a record of 14 wins, seven losses, and nine draws. Striker Emiliano Terzaghi led the Kickers and USL League One in scoring with 18 goals.
Outside of USL League One, the Kickers participated in the U.S. Open Cup, and the league playoffs, which they qualified for with their first-place finish during the regular season. The Kickers reached the fourth round of the Open Cup, before losing to Major League Soccer expansion side Charlotte FC. The Kickers began the Playoffs in the semifinal round on October 29, where they were eliminated.

## Transfers
### Transfers in

| Date | Position | No. | Name | From | Fee/notes |
| December 13, 2022 | FW | 8 | João Gomiero | North Carolina Fusion | Free |
| December 15, 2022 | DF | 25 | Michael Hornsby | Central Valley Fuego | Free |
| January 31, 2023 | FW | 19 | Justin Sukow | Forward Madison | Free |
| February 2, 2023 | DF | 34 | Beckett Howell | Richmond Kickers Academy | Free |
| February 2, 2023 | MF | 33 | Gabe Cox | Richmond Kickers Academy | Free |
| February 7, 2023 | DF | 16 | Jake Mecham | Denver Pioneers | Free |
| February 9, 2023 | FW | 99 | Kharlton Belmar | Colorado Springs Switchbacks | Free |

### Transfers out

| Date | Position | No. | Name | To | Fee/notes |
| December 7, 2021 | MF | 7 | Matt Bolduc | | Option declined |
| December 7, 2021 | MF | 11 | Leonardo Baima | | Option declined |
| December 7, 2021 | GK | 13 | Austin Causey | Lexington SC | Option declined |
| December 7, 2021 | MF | 20 | Christian Molina | | Option declined |
| December 13, 2022 | MF | 8 | Ethan Bryant | Sporting Kansas City | Undisclosed |
| January 4, 2023 | DF | 5 | Stuart Ritchie | Columbus Crew | Free |
| February 6, 2023 | MF | 17 | Jonathan Bolanos | Huntsville City | Free |

## Competitions
### USL League One
#### Table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 8 | One Knoxville SC | 32 | 9 | 12 | 11 | 36 | 39 | −3 | 38 |
| 9 | Lexington SC | 32 | 7 | 14 | 11 | 46 | 57 | −11 | 32 |
| 10 | Chattanooga Red Wolves SC | 32 | 8 | 17 | 7 | 46 | 65 | −19 | 31 |
| 11 | Richmond Kickers | 32 | 6 | 15 | 11 | 42 | 55 | −13 | 29 |
| 12 | Central Valley Fuego FC | 32 | 6 | 21 | 5 | 36 | 61 | −25 | 23 |

#### Regular season

All times in Eastern Time Zone.

### U.S. Open Cup
## Statistics
### Appearances and goals

    As of October 14, 2023. Numbers after plus–sign (+) denote appearances as a substitute.
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | USL1 | USL1 | USL1 Playoffs | USL1 Playoffs | U.S. Open Cup | U.S. Open Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | JPN | Akira Fitzgerald | 22 | 0 | 22+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | USA | Dakota Barnathan | 23 | 2 | 21+1 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 1 |
| 3 | DF | USA | Chris Cole | 15 | 0 | 8+7 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | USA | Simon Fitch | 32 | 2 | 32+0 | 2 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | ARG | Zacarías Morán | 31 | 0 | 30+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 7 | FW | USA | Ethan Vanacore-Decker | 3 | 0 | 0+3 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 8 | FW | BRA | João Gomiero | 28 | 4 | 21+6 | 4 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | ENG | Matt Bentley | 30 | 1 | 17+12 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | ESP | Nil Vinyals | 28 | 6 | 26+1 | 6 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 11 | FW | USA | David Olsen | 5 | 0 | 0+5 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 14 | DF | USA | Luke Pavone | 13 | 1 | 2+10 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 16 | DF | USA | Jake Mecham | 22 | 0 | 4+17 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 17 | FW | USA | Ryan Sierakowski | 21 | 4 | 16+5 | 4 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 19 | FW | USA | Justin Sukow | 31 | 2 | 26+4 | 2 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 24 | DF | USA | Nathan Aune | 32 | 2 | 31+0 | 2 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 25 | DF | GER | Michael Hornsby | 28 | 1 | 28+0 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 27 | MF | ENG | Chandler O'Dwyer | 24 | 2 | 10+14 | 2 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 29 | GK | USA | Will Palmquist | 12 | 0 | 10+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 30 | GK | USA | Eli Mumford | 0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 31 | DF | USA | Otavio Zerbini | 0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 32 | FW | ARG | Emiliano Terzaghi | 24 | 12 | 23+0 | 10 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 2 |
| 33 | MF | USA | Gabe Cox | 6 | 0 | 0+6 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 34 | DF | USA | Beckett Howell | 13 | 0 | 4+8 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 36 | MF | USA | Landon Johnson | 11 | 0 | 3+8 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 37 | MF | JAM | Nicholas Simmonds | 7 | 1 | 0+7 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 91 | FW | JAM | Owayne Gordon | 19 | 1 | 4+15 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 99 | FW | GRN | Kharlton Belmar | 21 | 2 | 17+4 | 2 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |