FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 6, 2011
Manassas, Virginia – The Northern Virginia Majestics and Virginia Beach Piranhas met at the Virginia Beach Sportsplex on July 2 and the Piranhas unleashed some magic of their own winning 7-0. Wednesday night on the road it was a 3-1 victory and the Piranhas won both matches with the Majestics by a commanding combined score of 10-1.
It only took 16 minutes for Piranhas forward Steffi Goddard to get on the scoreboard and take Virginia Beach up 1-0 over the Majestics at George Hellwig Memorial Stadium in the rematch. Alyssa Wombwell added a second goal and Goddard scored her second to seal the win.
The first half was played at a slow pace without many chances except for Goddard’s and just like the game on July 2, the first half ended 1-0. The Majestics came out in the second half and pounded the Piranhas’ goal. Their attack forced a spectacular save by Piranhas’ keeper Victoria Johnson in the 47th minute when she faced a storming Majestics player one-on-one and took the ball right out of the air in front of her attacker disallowing her attempt on goal. But eleven minutes later, something clicked and the Piranhas took over the play scoring in the 58th minute and 62th minutes to triple the score.
Anja Barwinsky took the ball from midfield to the top of the box at the 58-minute mark and sent a crisp cross to Wombwell who took two steps and shot it straight up the middle through two defenders to make it 2-0.
Four minutes later, Goddard scored her second goal of the night off a Samantha Hare rebound. Hare took a rocket of a shot that Majestics goalkeeper Caitlin Landsman couldn’t handle and Goddard jumped on the deflection to take the Piranhas up 3-0.
The Piranhas defense held strong until the 90th minute when the Majestics were finally able to get the ball through to make the final score 3-1.
The win keeps the Piranhas in the playoff hunt just one point behind second place Charlotte. The teams will meet in Charlotte on July 15th followed by the Red and White’s last regular season match on July 16th at Atlanta.
Scoring Summary
1 2 F
Virginia Beach 1 2 3
No. Virginia 0 1 1
Virginia Beach: Steffi Goddard 16 (unassisted)
Virginia Beach: Alyssa Wombwell 58 (Anja Barwinsky)
Virginia Beach: Steffi Goddard 62 (Samantha Hare)
Northern Virginia: Hannah Simms 90th (unassisted)
Starting Lineups:
Virginia Beach: Victoria Johnson, Melanie Adams, Cheyenne Martinez-Trevino, Samantha Hare, Taylor Mertz (Kathryn Saunders 62), Emily Kittleson (Laquinta Garrett 41), Rachel Gerdin (Elisha Fry 45), Alyssa Wombwell (Brittany Bobbitt 70), Anja Barwinsky, Steffi Goddard (Kelly Morrison 75), Megan Cozens (Dani Gunderson 70)
Northern Virginia: Sahar Aflaki (Rachel Nichols 56), Shondel Archer, Emily Clarke, Jessica Frech (Kelley Johnson 45), Alyson Gregorowitz, Alison Heck, Annemarie Irwin (Amber Cook 45), Kindsey Ottavio (Katherine Neff 80), Kelsey Quinn, Kristina Rader (Hannah Sims 68), Alexandra Reed
Game Statistics:
Shots: VBP 13, NVA 5; Saves: VBP 2, NVA 4; Fouls: VBP 9, NVA 11; Offsides: VBP 1, NVA 1; Corners: VBP 1, NVA 5; Cautions: None; Ejections: None; Officials: Hagan Barnett, Christopher Burnes, Alex Coleman; Attendance: unknown; Weather: Cloudy, warm.
Carol Senechal
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