ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, December 11, 1995 TAG: 9512110113
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: Associated Press
Wisconsin is the NCAA soccer champion, and it wants respect.
``We are the national champions,'' midfielder Mike Gentile said after Sunday's 2-0 victory over Duke in the final. ``I don't want to see it in the paper that it was a fluke. This was a great team, and I don't know what else we have to prove to anyone.''
Former walk-on Lars Hansen scored in the ninth minute after Travis Roy's shot caromed off a crossbar, and Chad Cole scored in the 63rd minute, his first goal of the season.
Wisconsin (20-4-1) became the first team to go through the tournament without giving up a goal since San Francisco in 1976. The Badgers did it for five games; the Dons four.
Jon Belskis, forced into action when regular goalkeeper Todd Wilson sustained a season-ending elbow injury, made two saves in his third straight shutout. He did not allow a goal in 321 minutes of the tournament.
``In the Final Four, they made a climax and played the best they have all year,'' Badgers coach Jim Launder said. ``In the beginning of the year we set goals for ourselves. We wanted to win the Big Ten and go the the Final Four. And then, almost as an afterthought, we said `while we're there we might as well win it.'''
Duke (16-7-1), which reached the championship game by stunning four-time defending champion Virginia 3-2 on Friday, played as if it was still trying to recover from the emotional triumph.
``In the second half, we ran out of gas,'' Blue Devils coach John Rennie said. ``They were obviously stronger and bigger. They have a little bit of everything.''
Hansen, a walk-on in 1992, scored the only goal necessary when he beat Duke goalkeeper John Morton.
``I just followed through, basically, and the goalie and two defenders got caught on the goal line,'' Hansen said. ``I just tipped it in.''
The goal was Hansen's third in five NCAA tournament games. The first two gave the Badgers 1-0 victories. The senior from Drammen, Norway, beat Portland on Friday and William and Mary in overtime in the second round.
The game was played before a crowd of 21,319, the same as Friday's. Sunday's gathering braved 33-degree temperatures and 15-mph winds to watch at sold-out Richmond Stadium.
Duke won the title in 1986 and lost 1-0 in eight overtimes against Indiana in 1982.
LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Shea Huston of Wisconsin (left) and Sam Smith ofby CNBDuke bite the dust while chasing the ball in the first half.