Through good times and not so good times, a constant in Tidewater Virginia soccer over the past 18 seasons has been the W-League Virginia Beach Piranhas.
Make that 19 seasons, as the Piranhas, one of the W-League’s original franchises, opened their 2013 season with a 2-1 home opener victory over the Fredericksburg Impact.
The Piranhas’ history goes back to 1995 when the franchise debuted under the direction of owner-president Marcie Laumann.
“When I told my friends back in 1995 that I wanted to found a women’s soccer franchise they all said, ‘a women’s what?”, Laumann said in an article before the 2012 season.
“Back then, we were somewhat of a novelty. We were the underdog and the community rallied around us to help us through the first few seasons.”
In 2003 the team went 14-0-0, scoring 33 goals and only allowing five goals to the opposition. That season ended with a 1-0 overtime win over the Chicago Cobras in postseason play for the Piranhas’ one and only league title.
With a blend of veterans, some having been with the club for seven seasons, and talented newcomers, the Piranhas opened 2013 with a victory at the Virginia Beach Sportsplex. The game was suspended multiple times due to lightning.
Fredericksburg struck first with a goal by midfielder Kara Blosser in the fifth minute. It would be the Impact’s only goal.
The Piranhas drew even only four minutes later when forward Esther Anyanwu got on the scoresheet. Virginia Beach led 2-1 at the end of the first half after rookie Shan Jones got what turned out to be the game-winner before the end of the half.
“Kicking off our 19th season is something very special for me,” said Laumann going into the season opener. “Only a handful of teams get to play this long in the same community.