Know Your Enemy: FC Naples

The Richmond Kickers will open their home schedule this Saturday, facing FC Naples at City Stadium. Like last week's opponents, AV Alta FC, the southwest Florida club is in its second year. However, unlike AV Alta, FC Naples finished fourth in its inaugural season, hosted and defeated 2024 defending champs Union Omaha and made it to the semifinal round before losing to One Knoxville.

It's safe to say this is a battle-tested club, entering 2025 with high expectations.

Last year, the clubs met twice in the regular season with FC Naples taking both by a score of 2-1. However, three of those four Naples goals were scored by players who have since moved on.

Indeed, FC Naples underwent a bit of an off-season rebuild as multiple key players from the 2025 squad either moved on or were not picked up for a second year. This includes All-League defenders Jake Dengler (AC Boise) and Brecc Evans (Portland Hearts of Pine), along with defensive midfielder Chris Heckenberg (retired); and top offensive contributors Karsen Henderlong (transferred to Tampa Bay) and Jayden Onen (free agent).

FC Naples: Players to Watch

Dominick Bachstein, Forward

The 23 year old was a late addition to the squad in 2025, joining in early August after finishing an NCAA career at Drexel. He would score one goal, then returned for the 2026 season.

So far, he's off to a hot start, scoring two goals in as many matches, and both off the bench. Against Fort Wayne, he added an insurance goal, capitalizing on a defensive misstep. Then against Corpus Christi, he added the go-ahead goal in the 88th minute before Corpus equalized five minutes later.

In close matches, which many in this league are, it's always good to have an impactful, speedy super-sub up front, ready to come in with fresh legs. We'd say keep an eye on Bachstein around the 65th minute if things are close.

Although the way he has been playing, he may be due for his first professional start.

Lalo Delgado, Goalkeeper

While other veterans departed after one season, Delgado returned in net for 2026. One of the best keepers in the league over the last three seasons, his presence requires opposing teams to get creative when it comes to goal scoring.

Delgado led the league in clean sheets in 2023, and finished top five in 2024 and 2025. He's been a particularly difficult keeper for Richmond to crack; over this time with both Northern Colorado and FC Naples, they have only scored four goals on Delgado in seven matches.

In 2025, both goals came from relative distance. Darwin Espinal scored one from outside of the box, while Landon Johnson scored the other on a breakaway that took a deflection off a Naples defender from near the top of the box.

Luca Mastrantonio, Centreback

With the departures of veterans Dengler and Evans, Naples picked up Mastrantonio in free agency to fill the gap. The 29 year old Italian started his USL League One career with FC Tucson in 2021, followed by two seasons with Union Omaha (where he won the league championship in 2024), and a season with AV Alta.

He provides a critical veteran presence on the back line, alongside rookie centreback Josh Yoder. Mastrantonio is the only veteran in the team's current corps of centrebacks, with all others as first year professionals.

With FC Naples putting up a win and a draw against Fort Wayne and Corpus Christi, two expansion clubs on their first respective matches, Mastrantonio's leadership will be critical to the defense against a Richmond side that has been here plenty of times before. Look for Mastrantonio and Yoder to push Richmond out wide and not give any distance to those on the squad known to score on long range shots.

Chris Garcia, Midfielder

Like most players on the 2025 Madison squad, the 23 year old's offensive numbers from that season weren't great, with just a goal and an assist over 25 regular season matches. He joined the vast majority of that squad in exiting Madison this off-season, and joined Naples for a fresh start.

So far, he's already exceeded his 2025 output in only two matches with Naples. While it's too early to declare this a breakout season, we're starting to see signs, with a goal and two assists from his starting position in the right midfield.

Remember, this is a player who has three Real Salt Lake MLS call-ups to his name during his time with Real Monarchs in MLS NextPro. While Madison might be considered a lost season, Garcia is poised to show the league why he came close to breaking into the MLS ranks only a couple of seasons ago.

Richmond Kickers vs. FC Naples: How to Watch

It's a home match, so the best experience is at City Stadium. Tickets start at $20 and available on Seat Geek. Kickoff is at 6:00 PM ET.

The match will also show on ESPN+.

All images credit FC Naples