8 Days, 3 Trophies
What a week (and a day) for NoVa FC!
The multileveled giant in Virginia soccer has teams in multiple leagues, including USL2, EPSL, MASL, and USLW. Last week, the men have been on a tear. The first trophy would come on Saturday, June 18th, when the team captured the USASA Region 1 Championship. The match was an absolute battle between NoVa FC and Newtown Pride FC. Luke Campbell opened the scoring for NVFC in the 40th minute, but Newtown would equalize just two minutes later. Jhonny De Souza would put one into the net and give NVFC the lead in the second half and it looked like his club was well on his way to the Regional title. However, Newtown had other thoughts and equalized at the death, forcing the match into penalty kicks. NoVa’s keeper, Chris Palacios, would win man of the match, stopping two of Newtown’s PKs to win the battle 6-4. With the win, NoVa FC would claim the USASA Region 1 Championship and advance to the USASA Championship later this year.
The next couple of matches would come in a blur, as NoVa FC’s EPSL playoff run was in full swing. Wednesday, June 22nd, NoVa FC hosted Columbia FC for the Mid-Atlantic Conference Championship, with the winner advancing to the EPSL playoffs. Due to inclement weather, the match had to be moved indoors, but that didn’t slow NVFC’s roll. JP Ayolmbong scored the opener and Jhonny De Souza would add the eventual game winner, as they won the Mid-Atlantic Conference title, 2-1. Of course, that was only the beginning.
In the EPSL’s Final Four, NoVA FC drew Salone FC, the second-place finisher in the Delaware River Conference. That match would be played on the 25th, just three days after the club’s game against Columbia FC. Kareem Sheta, NoVa FC’s head coach, talked about the importance of player rotation with the congested schedule. “Not ideal to play games back to back and definitely not ideal to play 7 matches in 14 days. But we decided our player pool this year could handle the work loads of matches as long as we managed the minutes and kept rotations healthy.” Player rotation paid off as NVFC would get goals from KJ Nadeau, Jean Philippe, Jaime Varges, and Vagner Marques (3). Those 6 goals would be enough to overcome 2 from Salone FC. NVFC advanced to the EPSL Championship, scheduled for the next day.
In the Championship, played on Sunday (27th), NoVa FC faced powerhouse Pancyprian Freedoms. Aj Sheta would score the opener for NVFC just before the half. That scoreline would hold until the end of the second half, when hat-trick hero Vagner Marques would score an insurance goal. NVFC won the EPSL Championship 2-0. For Coach Sheta, the club expected to win. “Expectations are to win for any club and any coach. I think for us this year things are going well and our "older" guys are paving paths for the next upcoming crop of talent for NVFC.”
What’s next for the NoVa men’s side? “Next for us is to finish strong in the USL2 and hopefully line up a game against the Maryland Bobcats in the NISA Independent Cup.”
- Dan Vaughn