After surrendering an equalizing goal late in the second half, the Northern Virginia Royals ended their 2010 season with a dramatic game-winning goal in stoppage time to top the Hampton Roads Piranhas 2-1 Sunday night. After peppering the Hampton Roads goal with 25 shots throughout the match, Royal forward Stanley Kaweesi blasted home the final shot of the season in the waning moments to earn the Northern Virginia victory.

 

The Royals (6-6-4) finished the season in fifth place of the ten-team PDL Mid Atlantic Division.

 

Northern Virginia set the game tempo early, rocketing a shot at the Piranhas goal in the first minute of the match that clanged off the goalpost and ricocheted just wide. The Royals struck the goalpost again in the 22nd minute, yet the shot rebounded away from the net for the second time in the half.

 

The deadlock was broken early in the second half when Kaweesi broke free behind the Hampton Roads defense and drove a low cross back to the charging Royal midfielder Richard Edgar.  Edgar buried the shot with authority, sending it untouched past the sprawling keeper Ryan Zmuda for the lead in the 51st minute.

The Northern Virginia Royals Super Y-League teams battled through scorching temperatures to finish undefeated over a full weekend of competition against Alpharetta United and the Atlanta Fire.  On Saturday, the Royals youth teams did not surrender a goal in grabbing four straight wins over United. The upstart boy’s teams returned on Sunday to earn an additional win and two 1-1 draws to the Fire to finish without a loss.

 

Together, the club combined for five wins, two ties, and no losses to end the weekend of play against the Georgia USL Super Y-League teams.

 

The U14 Royals kicked off the action late Saturday morning, rising to the occasion to pick off Alpharetta 2-0 to start things in the right direction for the home side. With momentum in their favor, the Northern Virginia side returned the following day to drub the visiting Fire 5-0.

Surrounded by both tropical temperatures and raucous local fans, the Northern Virginia Royals edged the Bermuda Hogges 1-0 in the first of two weekend matches in Bermuda on Friday night. A goal late in the second half from Anthony Han combined with some solid defending throughout lifted the visiting Royals to the hard fought victory. 

 
After an early morning flight and travel to beautiful Bermuda, the Royals shifted focus on the seriousness of the task at hand. Facing the Hogges, a team comprised of Bermuda’s national team player pool, in front of their home fans remained a daunting challenge.

 

As the match began, Northern Virginia was reminded just how difficult the evening would be as the Hogges fans made themselves known to the visiting Royals. The fervency of crowd created an exciting atmosphere throughout the first half as both sides played even, heading to the half time break scoreless.

 

The second half continued much like the first, both teams pushing deeper and deeper to grab the first goal. With the heat and offensive drive at the forefront, the visiting Royals seemed to tire and had to look to the bench. The decision soon paid off, as midfielder James Davin threaded a pass to the substitute Han in the 72nd minute. Following a  couple of quick moves, Han fired a shot past the tall, sprawling Hogges keeper into the lower far post corner for the game winner. 

Despite drawing the match even early in the first half, the Northern Virginia Majestics were unable to contain the pesky Freedom Futures attack and fell 4-1 to Washington Saturday night at Hellwig Memorial Park. Two goals by Futures forward Omolyn Davis led the visitors to victory over the home side Majestics.

 

Washington wasted little time getting on the scoreboard, as Davis made her first mark of the evening in the 11th minute. The George Mason University product found herself at the receiving end of a failed clearance, and buried the ball home to give Washington the early 1-0 lead.

 

The Northern Virginia offense sensed the urgency and seemingly sprang to life shortly after the goal. The offensive pressure soon yielded a corner kick for the home side, and Majestics midfielder Kimmy Moss drove a hard, low cross from the ensuing free kick. As she has throughout the season, Northern Virginia forward Ashley Johnson found a way to score, deftly touching a glancing header into the side netting of the Washington goal for the equalizer in the 16th minute.

United Soccer Leagues announced today the initial player selections for the Super Y-League’s Olympic Development Program (ODP) National Camps to be held at Ed Radice Sports Complex in Tampa, Florida.  Northern Virginia FC is well represented on the list of chosen attendees, earning thirty-three spots on the national elite pool directory.

 

Each nominated player has been identified as one of the top players in their birth year, and among the top 2% of players in the previous 2009 Super Y-League season. 

 

The Super Y-League ODP camp represents an elite group of players coming together to display their soccer talent and work ethic to collegiate and national team scouts. The ODP focus groups this year will be for the top players (216 Girls & 216 Boys) born in either 1993, 1994, or a combination of 1995/1996 players. The additional lists showing those players born in 1991 & 1992 are posted to recognize the top players from those birth years. That list will be promoted to over 1,000 colleges as well as to the USSF National Staff and the Canadian Soccer Association.

 

For more information and a list of the Northern Virginia players slected, please click 'learn more'.

 

 

United Soccer Leagues (USL) announced today the Super Y-League (SYL) First and Second-11 Club rankings for the 2009 regular season, recognizing the league’s top clubs on a competitive and administrative basis. Northern Virginia FC, comprised of the Royals (boys) and Majestics (girls) youth soccer teams, garnered the prestigious number one spot, finishing as the top Super Y-league club in North America. 

 

The top overall club in the SYL this season, the Northern Virginia Majestics/Royals scored an 81.80 to edge out the second-best club in the league, the MPS Bulldogs/Renegades (Massachusetts), by less than a tenth of a percent.

 

The Northern Virginia Royals were an impressive 41-3-14 during the SYL Regular season. They finished fourth in the boys rankings with a score of 78.11. Their U14, U15 and U17 boys went undefeated, while their U13, U16 and Super-20 League teams each had just a single loss. All five of the club’s SYL teams will be present at the SYL North American Finals.

Northern Virginia’s girls, the Majestics were 36-10-4 this season, finishing fourth in the girls rankings with a score of 79.27. The Majestic’s U13, U14 and U16 girls will all compete for a North American Championship in Tampa.

2009 Super Y-League Regular Season First 11 Club Rankings [+]