Lionsbridge FC and Virginia Beach United played to a 2-2 draw Saturday night at Christopher Newport’s packed TowneBank Stadium, leaving both teams with realistic hopes of taking the USL League 2 Chesapeake Division championship.
A brief first-half scuffle and numerous counterattacks by both teams marked the match.
The Newport News-based Lions won the Coastal Virginia Challenge Cup against their cross-water rivals for the sixth consecutive year, thanks to a 1-0 triumph against vastly improved VBU in May at the Virginia Beach Sportsplex.
The teams remained tied for first place with 7-1-2 records and two matches apiece remaining, though the Lions snared the potential head-to-head tiebreaker and the Challenge Cup by twice coming from behind. Charlottesville Blues FC (6-2-1 entering Sunday night’s game against Patuxent Football Athletics) is the only other team in realistic contention for the division’s two berths in the 35-team national playoffs.
United, 13th in the league’s national power rankings, moved ahead in the ninth minute on a goal by Juan Valiente. Lionsbridge, ranked 11th and hoping to build on last year’s runner-up finish, countered in the 20th minute as Demitri Turner scored off a Christian Hatley cross.
Some Lions incorrectly thought they had received a penalty kick in the 25th when Denis Krioutchenkov was taken down by a slide tackle in the box, causing the partisan crowd to roar.
In the second half, James Madison player Ethan Taylor, a Kellam High graduate, put VBU ahead in the 49th minute by rolling the ball into the net after a counterattack down the left side.
The Lions pulled even again in the 67th minute as Isaiah Chisolm, a Kentucky player from Grafton High, raced toward the net to knock home a well-placed crossing pass from Krioutchenkov.
Lionsbridge outshot United 13-4 and had seven corner kicks to VBU’s three. The Lions received 19 fouls and five yellow cards, while VBU had 14 fouls and three yellows.
Lionsbridge will finish the regular season this week with 7 p.m. games against the teams at the bottom of the division: Patuxent in Arnold, Maryland, on Wednesday and at home Saturday against the Virginia Marauders.
Virginia Beach United will meet the Marauders in Winchester at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and will visit Charlottesville at 7 p.m. Saturday.
