Virginia Beach United Offense Thunders On in 4-1 Win Over Patuxent Football Athletics

By Nicholas King — May 23, 2024

Heading into its Wednesday night showdown with Patuxent Football Athletics, Virginia Beach United had not scored three or more goals in consecutive games since 2021. Following a 3-0 victory over Charlottesville FC on Saturday, United was poised to break the streak, and it did just that. Virginia Beach secured its first four-goal performance last June, trampling over Patuxent en route to a 4-1 victory.

Forward Sammy Murphy ignited the attack for United. In the 24th minute, Louisville’s redshirt freshman sent a through pass from Timmy Ennin into the bottom right corner of the net, giving Virginia Beach a 1-0 lead and marking his first goal of the season. But the speedy, scrappy striker wasn’t done yet. Just 150 seconds later in the 27th minute, Murphy launched a cross from fellow forward Ethan Taylor into the nylon for his second tally of the night. 

The assist was Talyor’s third of the season. After the game, Murphy, who was named the Lucky Oyster Man of the Match, gave the JMU product his flowers, saying “Having him run down the win helps our team even more,” emphasizing that the United attack is not the same without the Kellam High School graduate. 

In just under three minutes, Murphy catapulted from last to first on United’s scoring leaderboard. Although he had several opportunities to achieve a hat trick, the winger failed to capitalize. 

Early in the second half, Patuxent forward Michael Adekanmbi turned a Bomba Hermoso turnover into a quick unassisted score to cut the United lead in half. Just six minutes later in the 59th minute, starting midfielder Peekay Stoffle restored Virginia Beach’s two-goal lead by redirecting a flip pass from Alexander Moody into goal.

Substitutions began to flow onto the pitch for United at the beginning of the second half. One of those reserve players was Messiah University striker Sam Phillips. The MAC Commonwealth Rookie of the Year kissed a cross from stalwart defenseman Franco Tradatti into the net in the 63rd minute for United’s fourth and final score. 

Following Wednesday’s game, Virginia Beach United has scored eight goals in total this season with seven different players finding the net. This offensive versatility will be vital next Wednesday when United travels to take on Christos FC. In four head-to-head matches, VBU has been outscored by the Baltimore-based club 16-5.