Hampton Roads Piranhas News Release - www.hrpiranhas.com

Friday, July 10, 2009

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA -- Fighting for their place in the PDL playoffs, the Hampton Roads Piranhas (5-4-3) came out firing Friday night at Trinder Center/Foster Field but couldn’t hold off West Virginia’s leading scorer Adam Arthur. Arthur scored two goals to take home the win for the Chaos (4-8-3).

The Piranhas struck first in the 20th minute of play when forward Charles Nweke sent a near-perfect cross from six yards out to midfielder Connor Smith who was waiting at the goal. Smith fired point blank into the middle of the net making the score 1-0.

West Virginia tied the match five minutes later on Arthur’s first goal. Chaos defender Paul Nicholson chipped a short ball over the left side of the Hampton Roads defense where Arthur was waiting. He beat Piranhas’ keeper Ryan Zmuda, who had come off his line, high into the middle of the net. The half ended 1-1.

The Chaos went ahead to stay in the 90th minute. Arthur scored his second goal off a 40-yard through ball from forward Alex Ross who had entered the game in the 58th minute. Arthur was waiting in the box and beat Zmuda on the lower left side. The Piranhas outshot West Virginia 13-8.

“We didn’t take our chances,” said head coach Jon Hal. “With games like this, chances are at a premium and if you don’t take them you’re not going to win. This was quite a disappointing loss.”

The PDL Piranhas’ next match is Sunday, July 12 at Fredericksburg with kick off scheduled for 6 p.m. The team will then travel to back to Fredericksburg on July 14 for a makeup match for their June 6 contest that was cancelled due to weather.

The Piranhas play their next home game on July 15 in the second half of a doubleheader with the Piranhas’ women’s side. The men will face the Virginia Legacy in a makeup from May 9. The women will face the Richmond Kickers Destiny at 6:30 p.m., followed immediately by the PDL sides at 8:15 p.m.