
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, November 14, 1993                   TAG: 9311140137
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: C-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: From staff reports
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

UVA TRIES FOR SOCCER THREE-PEAT

Bruce Arena wouldn't mind if Virginia followed the same pattern as last year, when a late-season slide was followed by an ACC men's soccer championship.

The Cavaliers subsequently won their third NCAA title in four years, although, in this case, Arena doesn't believe in omens.

"I don't think this team is anything like past teams," said Arena, whose Cavaliers (17-3) begin their bid for an NCAA "three-peat" at 1 p.m. today against William and Mary (12-4-3) at Klockner Stadium. "Personalities are different. Leadership is different. It's a whole different group of animals."

It's a different group from earlier in the season, when projected starters A.J. Wood, Clint Peay, Nate Friends and Brian Bates missed five to 14 games each.

"We're getting better, but it's still basically a new team," said Arena, who will have everybody but Peay available today. "Every week, somebody else comes back; it makes a difference."

The Cavaliers were ranked No. 1 in the country until they lost three times in a five-game stretch late in the regular season. Last year, they were 1-2-1 in their final four regular-season games.

"Why is everybody so insistent on saying there was a fade?" Arena asked. "Are we supposed to win 95 percent of our games? When you lose games, everybody looks for reasons. It's like a crisis or something."

Nevertheless, Arena ranks this year's ACC championship among the Cavaliers' top soccer feats. Unlike their previous three ACC Tournament victories, they had to win three games in four days.

"The last time a team won without a bye was 1987," said Arena, whose team was seeded third this year. "To beat two teams who beat us during the regular season was an absolutely great accomplishment."

In past years, an ACC title would have sufficed to get Virginia a first-round bye for the NCAA Tournament; however, the field has been expanded from 24 to 32, with all playing in the first round.

Last year, the Cavaliers needed only to win two home games to make the final four. With the change in format, UVa would have to win three times, with a possible road game at Indiana in the third round.

by CNB