The Northern Virginia Royals erased a two-goal deficit to tie the Richmond Kickers Future 2-2 on Friday evening at Howison Park. Royal defender Ricky Strong scored his first goal of the season, blasting home the equalizer in the 83rd minute to earn the comeback draw.

 

With the hot temperatures and sluggish humidity improving only slightly with the evening start time, the Royals and Kickers seemed oblivious as both teams played with a sense of urgency at different points in the match.   Not far removed from recent memory, Northern Virginia had fallen victim to a late Richmond surge in their previous meeting, surrendering two goals late in route to a 3-3 tie on the road.

 

It was the Kickers’ turn to storm into the early lead, scoring two goals in the first 18 minutes. Richmond midfielder Scott Robertson finished a pass from teammate Andrew McIntosh in the 11th minute of play, giving the visitors the early advantage. Richmond doubled their lead seven minutes later when forward McIntosh’s shot eluded the grasp of Royal keeper Joel Helmic for the 2-0 lead.

The Northern Virginia Royals battled through stormy weather and torrential rain for nearly the full 90 minutes, emerging with a 3-1 win over the visiting Virginia Legacy. Two first half goals propelled Northern Virginia to the victory, earning the third win for the 2008 season.

 

Following a full hour delay for thundershowers, the Royals stormed out onto the pitch and struck first in the opening minutes. Northern Virginia defender Zach Ward fed fellow Royal Brian Hinkey in the 4th minute and Hinkey fired a laser from outside the box, striking nothing but Legacy net for the 1-0 lead.

 

The Legacy soon found themselves reduced to ten men on the pitch as Niko Aleksandrov earned two yellows in rapid succession in the 17th and 26th minutes. The Royals doubled their lead just before half as Northern Virginia forward AJ Sheta collected a cross from Matt Brady and slotted the ball past Legacy keeper Andrew McAdams for the ultimate game-winner in the 44th minute.