Tonight is a Special Night for Dutch Lions: Players and Fans Ready for Playoffs

Tonight is a Special Night for Dutch Lions: Players and Fans Ready for Playoffs

The Dayton Dutch Lions wrapped up the USL PRO regular season last Saturday night by triumphing over the Harrisburg City Islanders by a final score of 3-1. The victory sealed a spot in the playoffs for the Dutch Lions for the first time in club history. Now the Dutch Lions will travel to Virginia for a quarter-final match against the Richmond Kickers tonight.

 

Dutch Lions Captain Joel DeLass said, “It’s really special. A few of us have been here since the start, and it means a lot, knowing where we came from and how far down we were that first year.

 

“It’s hard to explain how much this means for the Dutch Lions and their fans. It was obvious from the beginning of the season that this was a talented team. It is so gratifying to see all the hard work pay off,” said Chad Hollingsworth, founder of the Oranje Legion. “After the Harrisburg match, I went to the field and hugged as many players as I could find. Then I walked to midfield, laid down, and basked in the moment. I may have shed a few tears. We were confident this moment would come, but it feels so much better than we could have anticipated”

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It was a wildly successful regular season for the Dutch Lions by any standards. Dayton put together record of 10-9-7 against a table of formidable USL PRO opponents, setting multiple team records along the way. The time, though, for reflecting on achievements must wait. The postseason has arrived and there is more to be accomplished.

 

The road to a USL PRO championship for the Dutch Lions would be a literal one. Dayton earned the eighth seed in the post-season tournament, which means that they would have to win three consecutive playoff matches away from the Gem City in order to claim the title.

 

The first stop on the post-season itinerary is City Stadium, where Dayton will take on the top-seeded Richmond Kickers. The Kickers finished the regular season with a record of 15-1-10. The Dutch Lions faced the regular season champions twice in the regular season. Richmond swept the home-and-away series by an aggregate score of 8-4.

 

“A lot of times in sports, it doesn’t matter who the favorite team is. If they don’t play well, then they can lose the game,” said DeLass. “We said from preseason that our goal was to make the playoffs because once you’re there, it’s a one-off game and anything can happen.”

 

The first kick for the postseason contest between Dayton and the Richmond is scheduled for 7:00 PM on Saturday evening. The Dutch Lions invite all their fans to join the Oranje Legion at The Dublin Pub in Dayton’s Oregon District to watch the game live.