On Saturday night, FC Tucson hosts a recent foe, a former Tucson coach and the league’s top goal scorer in the biggest match of its pro existence.
So, yes, there’s familiarity. Then there’s this: Saturday’s USL League One playoff showdown is a rematch of last Saturday’s game, which the Men in Black won 4-2.
This time, “It’s going to be a different game, obviously,” said FC Tucson defender Luca Mastrantonio. “They are going to adjust to our strengths, they are going to come more prepared, even more willing to win because it’s either in or out … they already knew they clinched the playoffs and sometimes that can give you that certainty. They are not going to have that next game, so it’s either in or out.”
This is Richmond’s first postseason appearance since the 2016 USL Championship playoffs. The Kickers debuted in 1993.
Forward Emiliano Terzaghi leads the way for Richmond. He has won USL League One’s Golden Boot the last two seasons; the trophy is given annually to the league’s goals leader. The Argentinian has scored 18 goals this season, the most in the 3-year-old league’s history.
Terzaghi has scored twice against FC Tucson this season, both on penalty kicks.
“He’s a good player,” said FC Tucson defender Kaelon Fox. “He’s really dynamic. You never know where he’s going to be in the box, he could run near post, he could spin you back post, so just knowing a player like that can move and shift any way at any time, you can’t give him any space.”
Richmond Kickers coach Darren Sawatzky ran FC Tucson during the 2019 season, going 8-11-9.
Returning to Tucson, again, is Richmond coach Darren Sawatzky. The Seattle native led FC Tucson to an 8-11-9 record in 2019. The season was the Men in Black’s first as a pro team.
Sawatzky eliminated FC Tucson from the playoffs twice. Sawatzky led the Seattle Sounders U23 team to 2-1 wins in the 2012 USL League Two playoffs and in the 2015 Western Conference Final.
Last year Sawatzky’s Kickers went 8-6-2 and finished in fourth place. During the 2021 regular season, Richmond went 11-10-7.
“This is gonna be a ‘hard out,’” said FC Tucson coach Jon Pearlman. “Darren Sawatzky’s teams have a chip on their shoulder, they work, they’re gonna come at you fast and hard, they’re great on dead balls, they don’t wait for you to get set up; they try to catch you off guard and he’s been in this situation before, he’s been here as a (USL) League Two coach and put us out in the playoffs as a host team.”
