The Northern Virginia Royals dropped their final match of the 2008 season, falling 4-2 Sunday evening to the Long Island Rough Riders at Tully Field. The Royals twice pulled within a goal of the Rough Riders on the night, only to see the home side counter during the high scoring affair.
With the blustery conditions dictating the flow of play early, both sides struggled to maintain possession under the high, swirling gusts. Long Island surged ahead with two goals midway in the first half, a solid finish by Pavelid Casterada in the 25th minute and a questionable breakaway score from Ben Arikian in the 38th for the 2-0 lead at the break
The start of the second half saw the Royals attack with a pressing sense of urgency. Northern Virginia midfielder Connor Neusel sent a splitting through ball down the right side to streaking teammate Matt Brady. Brady fired to the far side of the Rough Rider goal, resonantly striking the opposite post and falling snuggly into the back of the net.
Taken from USLDiscussions.com/Dr. Scrumpy
The Northern Virginia Royals erased a two-goal deficit to tie the Richmond Kickers Future 2-2 on Friday evening at Howison Park. Royal defender Ricky Strong scored his first goal of the season, blasting home the equalizer in the 83rd minute to earn the comeback draw.
With the hot temperatures and sluggish humidity improving only slightly with the evening start time, the Royals and Kickers seemed oblivious as both teams played with a sense of urgency at different points in the match. Not far removed from recent memory, Northern Virginia had fallen victim to a late Richmond surge in their previous meeting, surrendering two goals late in route to a 3-3 tie on the road.
It was the Kickers’ turn to storm into the early lead, scoring two goals in the first 18 minutes. Richmond midfielder Scott Robertson finished a pass from teammate Andrew McIntosh in the 11th minute of play, giving the visitors the early advantage. Richmond doubled their lead seven minutes later when forward McIntosh’s shot eluded the grasp of Royal keeper Joel Helmic for the 2-0 lead.
