VICTORIA – The Buckingham High School soccer team survived a physical test at Central of Lunenburg with a 4-2 victory over the Chargers to remain as a contender in the James River District regular-season title hunt on Wednesday night in Victoria.

Four different players scored for the Knights (8-2-3, 7-2-2 JRD), as they wore down the Chargers over the course of the match.

“We had a little deeper bench, which helped us as the game went on,” said BCHS head coach Chuck Meek. “They have two or three really good go-to players. After we started to key on them, it took away their offense, and it led to more opportunities for us.”

The Knights jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the eighth minute on a goal by Malcolm Tillerson, who tapped a loose ball past the Central goalie.

Much of the next 20 minutes of the match was played in front of the Buckingham goal. The Chargers tied the game at one goal apiece before Buckingham made a few adjustments that leveled the field.

A good three to four minute run by the BCHS offense, set up the Knights' next goal in the 35th minute. Central failed to clear a direct kick from the right side from just outside of the penalty box, and Brandon Lipscomb put Buckingham back up with a goal from six yards out.

Up 2-1 at the intermission, Buckingham extended its lead in the 47th minute on a shot off the foot of Matt Almond to the upper right corner of the goal from just inside the 18-yard penalty box.

Buckingham scored its final goal in the 61st minute to put the game out of reach. A sliding kick by Tinos Trejo between two defenders and the goalie from about 10 yards out gave the Knights a 4-1 lead.

Central scored its second goal in the 68th minute, but Buckingham goalie Jason Conway was able to turn away several good shots on the BC goal in the second half to preserve the victory.

“Central defends its home pitch very well,” said Meek. “We knew this would be a tough game for us. We had a number of scoring opportunities, but either through good defensive recovery by Central, a couple of good stops by their keeper, or by our inability to convert good opportunities, we had to gradually pull away.

“Putting the ball in the back of the net is something that we've had trouble with all season, and hopefully we can get hot at the right time. We have the players to do it, but it just hasn't come yet.”

Buckingham will travel to Cumberland on Monday, May 6, before returning home to wrap up the regular-season with home matches against Goochland and Bluestone.

“We're right there in the mix for a good spot for the tournament, and with a little help, we might be able to get a shot at the regular-season championship, but we need to concentrate on playing our best going forward. We've played the top teams in the district close enough that we should feel confident going into the tournament.”