The 2026 Richmond Kickers season is the club's 34th season in existence, their eighth season in USL League One, and their 22nd season in the third tier of American soccer.
The Kickers were initially led by seventh-year head coach, Darren Sawatzky until June 15, where he parted ways with the club to manage USL League One expansion club, Sporting Cascades FC.
This is the first season since 2019 without Emiliano Terzaghi, who transferred to Portland Hearts of Pine, after playing for the Kickers for five seasons. This will also be the first season since 2021 without Simon Fitch and Chandler O'Dwyer who transferred to Spokane Velocity and Sarasota Paradise respectively.
Background
The 2025 season was the club's 34th season of existence, their sixth season in USL League One, and sixth year under head coach Darren Sawatzky. The Kickers worsened from the previous season getting of 8 wins, seventeen losses, and five draws. With Darwin Espinal being the top goalscorer with nine goals.They failed to reach league playoffs for the first time since 2023 by finishing in 13th.
Outside of USL League One, the Kickers participated in the U.S. Open Cup and the USL Cup. The Kickers lost the first round in the U.S. Open Cup losing to National Premier Soccer League club Virginia Dream 3–0 and were also eliminated in the group stage of the USL Cup.
Players and staff
Current roster
Techinal staff PositionNameHead Coach & Technical DirectorVacantAssistant CoachBrian OwnbyGoalkeeping CoachEvan Munn
Techinical staff changes The Kickers were initially led by Darren Sawatzky until he parted ways with the club to manage USL League One expansion club, Sporting Cascades FC, after managing the club for six and a half seasons.
After Sawatzky left the club, Brian Ownby a former Richmond Kickers player who played for the club on loan in the 2013 season and would later play for them in the 2015 and 2016 seasons, as well as being appointed as assistant manager by Sawatzky in January 2026, took over on an interim basis on June 15, following Sawatzky's departure, this marks the first season, that a Kickers manager left mid-season.
Transfers
Transfers in Date Position No. Name From Fee Ref.December 2, 2025FW 11 Tarik Pannholzer Weiche FlensburgFreeDecember 4, 2025DF 26 Mujeeb Murana Miami FCDecember 9, 2025DF5 Ethan Kos Birmingham LegionDecember 11, 2025GK1 Yann Fillion FlorianaDecember 17, 2025DF4 Sam Layton GC KnightsDecember 18, 2025DF99 Daniel Moore Crown LegacyJanuary 7, 2026MF18 Austin AmerNoneJanuary 8, 2026DF12 Owen O'Malley Vermont GreenJanuary 13, 2026DF22 Sean Vinberg Portland Hearts of PineJanuary 14, 2026FW23 Tyler Freeman Western SuburbsFebruary 19, 2026DF44 Axel Gallegos Richmond UnitedAcademy contractGK13 Alex Wintsch Richmond UnitedAcademy contractMarch 3, 2026FW70 Lucca Dourado Birmingham LegionFreeMarch 6, 2026MF6 Ali Sasankhah Sacramento State HornetsApril 23, 2026DF24 Josh Erlandson Loudoun United25-Day contractJuly 2, 2026MF32 Matt Bolduc Sarasota ParadiseFreeDeal was later made permanent on July 31July 17, 2026FW14 Zahir Vazquez Valley 559 FCJuly 21, 2026DF45 Harold Hanson Eintracht Nordhorn
Transfers out Date Position No. Name To Fee Ref.November 12, 2025DF39 Brendan Dobzyniak VCU RamsFreeMF42 Grafton Kahl West Virginia MountaineersFreeFW40 Nick Sarrantakos High Point PanthersFreeNovember 30, 2025 GK 1 Pablo JaraUnattachedFreeDF25 Marcelo Lage New York CosmosFreeDF14 Guilherme Franca Sampaio CorrêaFreeDF16 Klaidi Cela KF SkënderbeuOption declinedDF4 Simon Fitch Spokane VelocityFreeDF5 Maxi SchenfeldUnattachedFreeDF6 Ryan Baer Tacoma DefianceEnd of loanMF11 Rivendi Pierre-Lewis FC MotownOption declinedMF17 James Vaughan Chattanooga Red WolvesFreeMF20 Adrian Billhardt Union OmahaFreeMF33 Matt Bolduc Sarasota ParadiseFreeFW27 Chandler O'Dwyer Sarasota ParadiseOption declinedFW32 Emiliano Terzaghi Portland Hearts of PineFreeDecember 1, 2025MF18 Jonathan KanagwaUnattachedOption declinedFebruary 12, 2026DF38 Griffin Garnett Ferencvárosi TC IIFreeMay 18, 2026DF24 Josh ErlandsonUnattachedFreeContract expired on 18 May 2026
Transfer notes
Non-competitive
Preseason
Friendlies
Competitions
USL League One Table
Prinx Tigres Cup
Group stage
U.S. Open Cup
Statistics
Appearances and goals . Numbers after plus–sign (+) denote appearances as a substitute.
Disciplinary record PlayerUSL League One Regular SeasonUSL CupU.S. Open CupUSL League One PlayoffsTotal1GK Yann Fillion6000001000007002MF Dakota Barnathan5000001000006003MF Hayden Anderson5013000000008014DF Sam Layton7001000000008005DF Ethan Kos0000000000000006MF Ali Sasankhah5001002000008007MF Landon Johnson0000000000000009FW Joshua Kirkland40000000000040010MF Nils Seufert30010000000040011FW Tarik Pannholzer30000010000040012FW Owen O'Malley80110000000090113GK Alex Wintsch00000000000000014FW Zahir Vazquez20000000000020018MF Austin Amer50000000000050019FW Darwin Espinal40000000000040022DF Sean Vinberg20010000000030023FW Tyler Freeman30000000000030024DF Josh Erlandson00000000000000025MF Matt Bolduc10000000000010026DF Mujeeb Murana40020010000070035DF Beckett Howell20000000000020036GK James Sneddon00000000000000041MF Andrew Richman00110000000010144MF Axel Gallagos00000000000000045DF Harold Hanson10000000000010070FW Lucca Dourado30000000000030099DF Daniel Moore100100000000200
Top Goalscorers RankPositionNumberNameUSL1 SeasonU.S. Open CupUSL CupTotal1FW9 Joshua Kirkland61072FW11 Tarik Pannholzer50054FW19 Darwin Espinal30034FW70 Lucca Dourado12035MF25 Matt Bolduc20026MF10 Nils Seufert20027MF18 Austin Amer10018MF7 Landon Johnson10019DF26 Mujeeb Murana100110DF22 Sean Vinberg100111FW23 Tyler Freeman100112FW14 Zahir Vazquez100113DF4 Sam Layton001114DF34 Beckett Howell0011Total253230
Assist scorers RankPositionNumberNameUSL1 SeasonU.S. Open CupUSL CupTotal1FW19 Darwin Espinal40042FW11 Tarik Pannholzer31043MF2 Dakota Barnathan21034FW12 Owen O'Malley30035FW23 Tyler Freeman11026MF10 Nils Seufert10127MF6 Ali Sasankhah10018MF25 Matt Bolduc10019MF3 Hayden Anderson1001Total173121
Clean sheets RankPositionNumberNameUSL1 SeasonU.S. Open CupUSL CupTotal1GK1 Yann Fillion4206Total4206
References
External links