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

DATE: TUESDAY, May 24, 1994                   TAG: 9405240104
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: C3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JOHN A. MONTGOMERY SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

PATRIOTS BOYS FINISHED BEFORE THEY GET STARTED

Several members of the Patrick Henry boys' soccer team arrived early at the River's Edge Sports Complex to watch their female counterparts play a Northwest Region game against Gar-Field.

The girls' 4-1 loss was a bad omen.

The Gar-Field boys shut out PH 3-0 in a quarterfinal. The Indians will face the Woodbridge-E.C. Glass winner in a regional semifinal.

In a fashion eerily similar to the girls' game, the PH boys gave up two goals in the first half. Shawn Rice scored on an assist from Denny Bernacki with 19 minutes to play in the half. Seven minutes later, Rice assisted Jason Gvozdas, the Indians' leading scorer.

``I think that second goal was the real difference,'' said Rudy Zimmermann, Gar-Field's coach. ``We were a little sluggish in the early going.''

``We'd been here [in Roanoke] since 1 o'clock killing time, and it was hot. But after that second goal, we began to play smoothly. I was pleased with our performance.''

Kevin Gray closed the scoring two minutes into the second half, beating Patriots goalie Chris Andres with a left-footed kick to the opposite corner. It was Gray's third goal of the year.

``This was definitely the strongest team we played all year,'' said PH center midfielder Mark Feldmann. ``They were the fastest, and the most skilled.''

Feldmann, a co-captain for the Patriots, came extremely close to ruining Gar-Field goalkeeper Gene Grafenstein's shutout bid. After faking Grafenstein, Feldmann launched a left-footed kick that hit the right goal post and bounced directly into the hands of Grafenstein, who was stretched on the ground.

``I was just unlucky, I guess,'' Feldmann said.

``This was a rough way to end our season,'' said PH sweeper Cannon Helscher, a junior. ``It was not our best game; I don't think we came out with the right attitude.''

Helscher suggested the Patriots may have let down their guard after defeating Cave Spring 1-0 in the Roanoke Valley District championship game last week.

Gar-Field improved its record to 15-4; PH finished 10-6-3.

by CNB