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.

 

Northern Virginia came back to life in the latter part of the half, in part to a flash of offensive brilliance by Royal high scorer AJ Sheta. After collecting a pass from defender Zach Ward, Sheta sent a dipping chip over the grasp of Kicker keeper Andrew Dykstra, cutting the lead in half.

 

The visiting Kickers found themselves a player down following the ejection of McIntosh late in the first half for excessive dissent. 

 

Northern Virginia capitalized on the man advantage in the second half, wearing the Richmond side down and out shooting the Kickers 14-1 in the final 45 minutes. Northern Virginia’s persistence finally paid off as Strong expertly buried the equalizer from the pass of fellow defender Brian James.

 

Shortly after, the Richmond coach was ejected from the match for voicing his frustrations, although refraining from any expletives.

 

The excitement reached a high point when the Kickers were awarded a penalty in the dying moments of the game, but Royals’ keeper Helmic agile reaction solidly saved the spot kick, denying the game-winner for the visitors.

 

Northern Virginia finishes their 2008 season this Sunday on the road against the Long Island Rough Riders. Match time is set for 6:00PM.