Sunday afternoon saw FC Fredericksburg travel to Northern Virginia’s Valley View Park to kick off both the men’s and women’s South Atlantic Division of the USL Super-20 League. The day would belong to Northern Virginia as the Majestics cruised to a 4-0 win before the Royals edged the Gunners 1-0 in the pair of shutouts.
The Majestics began their season following a 4-3-3 record in 2008 with more maturity and composure, as a majority of the players have returned from the previous year Super 20 and U17 Majestics teams. The collective experience on the team showed, as several Northern Virginia Super Y-League alumni combined for the four goals on the afternoon. Chrissy Parker notched two goals, while Leigh Ann Baxter and Shondel Archer each nabbed a goal and assist for the match. Kristen Smith earned an assist along with goalkeeper Audrey Moore on an alert play up the field.
The Super 20 Royals and Gunners battled nearly the entire game before the deciding goal was scored. Northern Virginia midfielder Eber Martinez sent a driven cross into the Fredericksburg goal mouth and found teammate Aaron Ross, who volleyed the ball untouched into the Gunners net in the 85th minute. The goal held, and the Royals found themselves on the winning side of the 1-0 result.
“Fredericksburg is a young and feisty group and can definitely cause a team problems,” commented Majestics Super 20 head coach Sean Burke. “But our finishing was on today and added to our solid team effort.”
The Super 20 Majestics return to action on May 27th when they face inter-club rival NOVA FC women. The Super 20 Royals have a break until June 7th when they face Meck Union FC and the Super 20 NOVA FC men open their season on June 13th against East Tennessee.
