The Northern Virginia Majestics Super 20 women won a hard fought contest 2-1 against the West Virginia Illusion. The teams were quite familiar with each as they had played only six days earlier. The Illusion won the first contest by the same score and the Majestics were determined to get a better result this time.

The first half was a cautious affair as both teams started off with defensive formations. The Majestics worked hard to contain the strong and fast West Virginia forwards while attacking the Illusion on the flanks. Liz Carroll’s creativity from the middle of the park allowed the Majestics to create several scoring opportunities. Kayley Sullivan was able to get behind the Illusion defense from her outside midfield position twice but the Majestics were unable to capitalize. The Illusion held strong and created a few chances before half time. The teams headed into the half knotted at 0-0.

The Majestics came out strong in the second half. The midfield took control and within two minutes created the first goal of the game. Stephanie Gerow found forward Jessie Cunningham open on the flank. Cunningham (East Carolina University) blew by one defender and raced into the box. Her left footed blast snuck in the near post to give the Majestics the lead.

Six minutes later, Cunningham struck again. After a flurry of chances, she one-timed a loose ball into the corner to give the home side a 2-0 lead. The Majestics had several more chances in the half, but were unable to score. The Illusion fought hard and refused to quit. They slowly took over the game and created several excellent score chances. Audrey Moore and Kathleen Clement were outstanding in goal for the Majestics as well as defenders Katie Devlin, Andrea Williams, and Breiana White. 

The Illusion scored with one minute to go on a beautiful through ball, but time expired before they could create a chance for the equalizer.

The Majestics resume their season on Wednesday against FC Fredricksburg at 2 pm at Wakefield HS.