Southern West Virginia King’s Warriors News Release -- www.wvkingswarriors.org
Thursday, July 4, 2013
BECKLEY, W.Va. -- The Southern West Virginia King’s Warriors will embark on an important two-game road trip this weekend as they travel to Virginia to meet the Northern Virginia Royals on Friday in Fairfax, Va., and then will take on the Virginia Beach Piranhas Saturday night. Southern West Virginia will be looking for its fourth straight victory and first road wins of the season.
The surging King’s Warriors have won three straight games, outscoring their opponents 9-4 in that span, and jumped back into the playoff picture in the PDL’s South Atlantic Division. The top two teams in the division qualify for the postseason, with the first and second place teams playing a play-in game against each other to determine who advances into the Eastern Conference Championships.
Southern West Virginia currently trails the Carolina Dynamo and West Virginia Chaos, who are tied for the top spot in the division, by five points. However, the King’s Warriors have four games in hand on the Chaos.
"It’s always tougher to play on the road than it is at home," said Southern West Virginia coach Scott Reitnour. "But we are going to be intentional about choreographing our game day on the road. We are going to be emphasizing proper rest, proper hydration, replenishing their electrolytes, and we are really going to take superlative care of the guys when we travel. We think it’s going to make a difference and we’re going to do our best on the road."
Southern West Virginia is coming off a 3-1 victory over the Virginia Beach Piranhas at home this past Saturday. Jon Grant led the way with a pair of goals for the King’s Warriors while Billy Forbes also added a strike on a penalty kick. Southern West Virginia goalie Erik Mozzo was solid in goal and strongly aided by a stingy King’s Warriors defense. Mozzo faced only four shots and made one save.
Friday’s opponent, Northern Virginia, is coming off a 0-0 tie at first place Carolina this past Sunday. The Royals have only one win this season in nine games but have also managed four points on four draws. Northern Virginia is 0-0-2 in its last two matches. Lifetime Southern West Virginia is 0-2-0 against the Royals.
Saturday’s opponent, Virginia Beach, last played in Beckley last Saturday when they were beaten 3-1 by the King’s Warriors. The Piranhas are 0-2-1 in their last three games. Lifetime the King’s Warriors are 3-0-0 against Virginia Beach.