The game plan was designed to close off shooting lanes and keep the best women’s soccer team in the Atlantic Division as far away from the net as possible.

 

Northern Virginia Majestics coach Sean Burke asked a lot from his talented defenders, and the midfield line as well, on Saturday afternoon.

 

Shutting out the Atlanta Silverbacks is no easy task. So far this season, it’s actually been impossible, but the Majestics nearly did it in their W-League home opener.

 

Utilizing a 4-5-1 formation that they rehearsed for just 45 minutes in practice, the Majestics considered their effort pretty much a success even if the final result wasn’t.

 

The Silverbacks won 1-0 on forward Kristin Garmen’s first goal of the season, but the evening wasn’t a total loss by any means. Just one week after they gave up five goals in Tampa, the Majestics played inspired defense against the three-time division champions and offered, perhaps, a more accurate measure of their collective talent.

 

“In Tampa I don’t think we believed in ourselves and what we’re capable of,” defender Brittain Maas said. “All of us play in college. We’re good players and today we came out with a strong belief that we’re really good. We weren’t going to have that score again.”

 

“We have some good leaders in the back and even though we’ve only had a handful of practices together we have a lot of trust in each other,” she said. “We had tons of organization and tons of communication in the back. We were moving like one unit and we were able to cut off a lot of opportunities.”

 

The Silverbacks, who return nine players from last year’s 10-2-1 squad, are a tough team to tame. There are scoring threats at virtually every position up front, including forward Alexa Newfield — the reigning W-League player of the week — and the net is guarded by 2009 goalkeeper of year Michelle Betos.

 

So, despite falling to 0-2, the Majestics feel like they accomplished something meaningful.

 

“We’re really playing for each other and working hard,” defender Corinna Strickland said. “I feel like it’s only going to get better. We’re playing well now. It was a good game for us today even though we lost, so I think we can be competitive.”

“We were a lot more talkative today. We were really communicating and shifting together. It also helped out a lot that our midfield played really well. It takes a lot of stress off us when they play well.”

The budding chemistry that never quite evolved last summer was plainly evident against Atlanta.

 

And it started with the defensive unit of Hylton graduate Breiana White, Kim Kroll, Maas and Strickland.

 

There were other encouraging signs as well. Woodbridge High School senior Kristen Lybert played the entire 90 minutes in her second W-League start (playing alongside Max King, Katie Menzie, Lisa DuCote and Bailey Wilcox on the midfield line) and the Majestics nearly produced their initial goal of the season on a shot by center forward Amalya Clayton that forced Betos to make a diving stop in front of the right post.

 

“We’re capable of keeping up with the best team in the league,” Maas said. “We’re really excited for the rest of the games.”

 

Northern Virginia travels to Hampton Roads next weekend against the instate rival Piranhas. The Majestics return in two weeks on Saturday, June 12th, to face Hampton Roads at George Mason University Turf Field in Fairfax, Virginia. Match time is scheduled for 5:30PM.