Saturday was an excellent night for both of Hampton Roads’ USL League Two franchises.
Virginia Beach United clinched the franchise’s first playoff berth with a 3-1 road victory against Charlottesville Blues FC.
Meanwhile, in Newport News, Lionsbridge FC breezed past Virginia Marauders FC of Winchester 5-1 to clinch its third consecutive Chesapeake Division championship.
The Lions, last year’s national runners-up, and VBU each finished 9-1-2 in the division with 29 points apiece. The Lions won and tied in their head-to-head meetings, giving Lionsbridge the tiebreaker edge and the right to host playoff matches next weekend at TowneBank Stadium.
Third-place Charlottesville (7-3-2) missed the playoffs with 23 points.
On Friday, matches will be held at 4:30 and 7:30 p.m., with the Lions playing the nightcap. Friday’s victors will meet at 7 p.m. Sunday in the second round.
Lionsbridge, knowing it would capture the division with a triumph, quickly took control against the last-place Marauders (2-10). Isaiah Chisolm drew a foul in the box, and Sam Hall, the franchise’s all-time leading scorer, converted the resulting penalty kick in the 14th minute.
Matthew Kirk scored in the 24th minute off a Chisolm assist, and an own goal against the Marauders in the 39th minute gave the Lions a 3-0 halftime edge.
The Marauders made it 3-1 in the 75th minute, but the Lions’ Coleman Jennings headed in a cross by Christian Hatley in the 87th, and Denis Krioutchenkov netted a penalty kick in the 89th. Soon after that, Lionsbridge players took turns holding the division trophy amid the sounds of “L-B-F-C” chants.
In Charlottesville, VBU went ahead 1-0 at halftime on Juan Valiente’s goal in the 42nd minute. Charlottesville pulled even in the 61st, but Ethan Taylor broke the tie in the 66th minute. Peekay Stoffle provided a virtually clinching goal in the 84th as Virginia Beach United extended its winning streak to 11 and finished with a division-best plus-20 goal differential.
The playoff pairings likely will be announced Sunday or Monday.
