Fire continue hot start with fourth straight win; NoVA FC returns to winning ways in Week 5

The Fredericksburg Fire are looking like the early team in to beat in Major Arena Soccer League play so far in 2023, reeling off their fourth straight win last weekend in taking down the Virginia Marauders 10-7.

But it was a struggle, with the Fire having to rally from a 4-3 halftime deficit with three unanswered goals in the third quarter to improve to 4-0. Keith Witherell had two goals for the Fire, while Uriah Bentick and Andres Garcia each added a goal and an assist.

Julius  Haynes had two goals and an assist and teammate Chance Hollins added a goal and an assist in Virginia's season opener, which had been delayed due to an illness outbreak on the team in January.

Meanwhile, NOVA FC picked up their first win of the season, leveling their record at 1-1, with a 14-8 win over the visiting Philadelphia Spartans. Philadelphia actually led 3-2 after the first 15 minutes, and NOVA pulled ahead 5-4 at the half before erupting for four goals in the third and five more in the fourth. The Spartans fell to 1-2.

Five different NOVA all had two goals each including Johnny De Souza, Jonathan Rivera, Carlos Cartagena, Jean Phillipe and Iliass Laghjibi, who also had three assists for a five-point night.

Jake Mulinge, who made 45 game appearances for St. Joseph's University in his college career, banged in five-goals in the loss.