After nearly eleven months, the Northern Virginia Royals finally experienced the elation of being on the better side of the scoreboard at the final whistle. An opportunistic offense, combined with stellar goalkeeping from Royal Sean Kelley, earned the home side the long-awaited 3-0 result over the West Virginia Chaos on Sunday evening at Hellwig Memorial Park in Manassas, Virginia.

 

West Virginia, fresh off a 3-1 victory over Fredericksburg the previous evening, seemed eager to get at the Royals defense early. Chaos forward Adam Arthur broke through the Royals defense at the 20 minute mark and blasted a low shot towards the Northern Virginia net. Northern Virginia keeper Kelley sprung across the goal mouth and nimbly touched the shot wide, earning the first of his nine saves on the night.

 

Six minutes later, Northern Virginia midfielder Ernie Marquez broke free on the West Virginia endline as the result of some nifty footwork and slotted the ball back into the Chaos goal area. Royal forward Dave Atkinson’s one-timed shot from ten yards out skipped once on the turf before striking the West Virginia net for the 1-0 advantage.

 

Northern Virginia’s defense and Kelley’s acrobatics held the Chaos at bay before the Royals added to their lead late in the second half. Substitute Mo Hughes driven corner kick was pounded home by the head of Royal forward AJ Sheta in the 72nd minute. In the waning moments of the match, Northern Virginia defender Nick Sylvester lifted the ball over the West Virginia defense to a rushing Hughes. The Royal forward rocketed the shot true, putting the exclamation point on the Northern Virginia 3-0 result.

 

The Royals last victory came on July 13th 2008, a 3-1 result over the Virginia Legacy.

 

Northern Virginia returns home this Thursday, June 18th, to face the local rival Fredericksburg Gunners at Hellwig Memorial Stadium in Manassas, Virginia. Match time is set for 6:00PM.