Virginia Beach Piranhas News Release - www.hrpiranhas.com
Saturday, May 12, 2013
Virginia Beach, VA - The Virginia Beach Piranhas opened their 19th W-League season on Saturday night with a victory, defeating the Fredericksburg Impact 2-1 at the Virginia Beach Sportsplex.
The game was suspended multiple times throughout due to lighning but it didn’t take long for the scoring to begin. Five minutes in Fredericksburg was on the board with a beautiful strike by midfielder Kara Blosser. The celebration was short-lived, however, as the Piranhas answered back in the ninth minute as forward Esther Anyanwu fired a rocket past Impact keeper Melissa Pacheco.
As the skies opened up and a sprinkle transformed into a downpour, Piranha forward Shan Jones hit a laser into the side netting off a crisp pass into the box from Yasmin Bunter to put the home side up. Lightning was threatening by half time with the score remaining 2-1 and the Piranhas holding the lead.
Newcomers, teammates and twin sisters Hannah and Lucy Goffe played strong together in the second half. Ashley Braam came off the bench and held the midfield for the Piranhas. Blosser drew a yellow card for taking down the Piranhas’ Linda Chukwuji, who left the field of play to receive medical attention.
Soon after returning to the field the referee called a 30-minute lightning delay in the 66th minute. Two additional delays were finally enough to clear the skies and dry the field. After an hour and 40 minutes play was resumed at 10:12 p.m. Fredericksburg, re-energized, came out strong with several consecutive, unanswered shots on goal. The Piranhas saw the referee pull the yellow card twice in the span of a few minutes as strong tackles on a rain-soaked slick field were coming fast and furious.
It was then Chukwuji who drew a yellow card in the 87th minute and teammate Victoria Johnson was booked in just three minutes later. With two minutes of stoppage, the Piranhas held on for their first victory of the 2013 season.
The W-League Piranhas next face the Washington Spirit at the Maryland SoccerPlex at 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 18.