The Northern Virginia Royals (1-0-0) edged the defending regular season champion Hampton Roads Piranhas 1-0 on their home pitch.   A single flash of offensive brilliance combined with a sturdy defense allowed Northern Virginia to earn the first win of the season over a Piranhas team that earned a PDL best 14-0-2 record in 2007.

 

The season opener for both Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, Saturday night’s match played out fairly even for most of the night.  Both sides found a couple of opportunities in the first half of play, but were unable to find the net and earning the scoreless draw at the half.

 

The match was ultimately decided late in the waning moments of second-half injury time.  A foul on Royal midfielder Oscar Berrios led to a quick restart to Adam Wilson down the left side.  The streaking Wilson touched the ball to Northern Virginia midfielder Max Griessbach.  Griessbach did not take long to find the foot of Royal forward David Atkinson on a slotted pass into the middle.  Atkinson sliced through the Piranhas box and fired true, giving the Royals the single goal lead in the 2nd minute of injury time.

 

The Royals did a good job of limiting the Piranhas’ chances in the final moments of the game, leaving the field with a hard earned victory.  The Northern Virginia defense made the definitive impact in the match, and only called on Royal goalkeeper Joel Helmic to make one save on the night.

 

Northern Virginia travels to Fredericksburg next week to face the Gunners on Thursday night.  The Royals open at home the following Saturday May 17th against the Vermont Voltage.  Match time is set at 7:00 PM at Fairfax High School in Fairfax, Virginia.