Know Your Enemy: Greenville Triumph

The Richmond Kickers will travel to Greenville this weekend for the season's first matchup between the sides.

Greenville is off to a sluggish start this season, with three losses in its first five matches. The team has also had to deal with changing home fields, with three matches at Furman University and this one scheduled at Clemson's Riggs Field. The movement is due to delays in opening the club's brand new soccer-specific stadium, GE Verona Park, set to debut on June 10th.

Greenville finished 11th in the table last year, its worst result since joining the league as a founding member in 2019. It was the first time the club did not qualify for the USL League One playoffs. In the wake of the finish, and with a change in ownership and operational staff, Head Coach Rick Wright departed and was replaced by Dave Dixon. The club also added Zach Prince as general manager and sporting director, indicating the club's desire to grow into its new stadium.

Prince and Dixon went about overhauling the underperforming offense, which finished 2025 with a league third worst 38 regular season goals. 10 of the 12 departures were forwards, wingers or attacking/central midfielders.

Despite Greenville's struggles in 2025, that squad still managed to win the home and away regular season series with Richmond. The first match was in Richmond and ended in a 3-3 draw in which Greenville midfielder Ivan Agyaakwa equalized just minutes after Chandler O'Dwyer put Richmond ahead with ten minutes to go.

Greenville took their home match by a score of 2-0, a particularly disastrous performance by Richmond's offense in which they managed no shots on target.

But it's a new year for both teams, and both are looking to overcome slow starts to move back up the table. Here's who Richmond fans should keep an eye on this Saturday.

Azaad Liadi, Forward #19

After breakout seasons with FC Tucson and South Georgia Tormenta, it seemed Liadi was on his way to stardom. He moved to Loudoun United, then under the DC United system, and then to Huntsville City under the Nashville SC system. With Huntsville, he scored 12 goals in 22 matches. But with no permanent MLS opportunity, he returned to USL as one of Lexington SC's marquee signings in 2024, before being loaned to Portland Hearts of Pine in 2025. Amidst the instability and some injuries, he was unable to find the form seen with Huntsville, Tormenta and Tucson.

However, so far in 2026 with Greenville, he's shown signs of that brilliance again. In just five regular season matches, he's logged two goals and two assists. Both goals came against Westchester, so we're waiting to see if he can open back up against other teams. Greenville was blanked its last two outings, so this match will be critical for its goal-scorers to perform.

Devin Boyce, Midfielder #7

It's the second stop in Greenville for the long-time USL veteran midfielder. Richmond fans have also seen him with Madison and Omaha since the 2020 season. Known for his set piece abilities and aggressive duels in the midfield, he's also known by opposing players and fans as a pest. But this is what you want in a midfielder, and if the fans are sending boos, you know you've gotten in their heads and likely the heads of the opposing players.

Should be be returning from a minor injury (Boyce was a late sub last weekend against Omaha after missing three matches), look for his presence up and down the right side of the pitch throughout the night.

Connor Evans, Right Back/Midfielder #18

The defender came into Greenville last year in his rookie season and dazzled, ending the season with 2 goals, 6 assists and a whopping 72 chances created. He led the league in the latter category, and returns for a second season. Under Dixon, he's shifted to a central defensive midfielder alongside Evan Lee.

While he hasn't found the scoresheet in regular season play, he continues to lead the squad in chance creation. Look for Evans to move the ball up the pitch with long passes to Liadi and Rodrigo Robles.

Rodrigo Robles, Forward #9

It wasn't a certainty that Robles would return for a third season with Greenville, as he was among those initially announced as out of contract. But late in pre-season, the camps came to a new agreement and it's paid off so far for the club. In just five matches, the attacking midfielder/second striker behind Liadi has two goals on nine shots. But like with Liadi, the goals came against teams with bad defenses to start the season, Cosmos and Westchester.

We'll look to see which direction Robles goes, but if he's in the roster, look for him to take shots and create chances alongside Liadi.