At the beginning of the season many regular followers of the A-league saw the talent that owner Mike Field had assembled and wondered how it would produce. On Friday night before 2,565 fans and a national television audience the Virginia Beach Mariners showed just how good they could be in a 5-0 win over the visiting Atlanta Silverbacks.
It did not take long for the Mariners to show that they had something to prove to themselves and the fans. In the second minute Jakob Fenger crossed the ball into the box from the left wing only to have it headed away by the defense. The Mariners continued to press the attack and it produced results in the 7th minute. Defender Kevin Knott pushed the attack forward with a pass to Roy Lassiter. Lassiter then slid the ball wide to Hamisi Amani-Dove who caught Knott in perfect stride. Atlanta goalkeeper Bryheem Hancock had no chance as the Mariners' defender put the ball in the top of the net. The lead was increased to 2-0 in the 22nd minute when Dante Washington received the ball from the throw-in and showed his strength as he held off the defender, moved across the top of the box then put a low shot in on the near post. The visitors were put way for the night late in the half when defender Steve Danbusky and midfielder Roland "Pato" Aguilera played a nice two man game ending with Pato putting a soft bender over the Atlanta keeper. "I thought we worked extremely hard. We came out very strong." stated head coach Shawn McDonald. The Silverbacks were unable to mount much of an offensive attack with their best chance coming from a corner kick midway through the first half.
The second half continued with more pressure from the Mariners. Nine minutes into the second half Lassiter made a nice move avoiding the off sides trap, sent the ball across the goal area to Aguilera. Pato allowed the defender's momentum to carry him past the play then put the ball high for the fourth goal and his second of the night. The Mariners final goal of the night will definitely get billing as one of the best in the A-league this year. Aguilera played made a dummy attempt to play the ball which allowed him to get around his defender. After coming down on the left side he played a low cross into the box which went just past Washington onto the foot of a streaking Lassiter giving the goalie no chance to make the save.
The game was a much needed break from recent performances especially with a large home crowd. "We weren't going to let them (fans) down.," Lassiter said, "90 minutes of soccer is what we needed." The next match for Virginia Beach is June 15th versus Atlanta. Hopefully the effort from this match will be carried over. Dante Washington summed it up with one statement, "When we pass the ball well, we are an extremely dangerous team."
GAMESTATS
Virginia Beach
Lineup: Larson, Danbusky, Knott, Hutchison(Stokes 64), Mahoney, Fenger(Lewis 84), Bilyk(Moore 64), Aguilera (Alvarez 77), Amani-Dove(Brooks 75), Washington, Lassiter
Shots: 19(3-Knott,Aguilera, Amani-Dove) Saves: 4(Larson) Fouls: 20(Hutchison) Offsides: 3 Corners: 5 Cautions/Ejections: Hutchison,Aguilera
Atlanta
Lineup: Hancock, Luna, Woods(Barton 45), Odera, Mitchell(M'Bemba 59), Ozimek, Moore, Broder, Iotov (Klinger 79), Cozier, Nusum
Shots: 9(2-Moore, Broder, Cozier, Nusum) Saves; 7(Hancock-7) Fouls: 19(Moore-4) Offsides: 2 Corners: 4 Cautions/Ejections: Luna, Moore, Barton
