ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, May 21, 1996 TAG: 9605210084
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOHN MONTGOMERY SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES
Officially, the sun set on a hot and humid Cave Spring Junior High School soccer field at 8:26 p.m. Monday night.
For Cave Spring High School's boys' soccer season, darkness set in about 30 minutes later.
E.C. Glass, the second seed in the Western District, upset Cave Spring, the first seed from the Roanoke Valley District, in the opening round of the Northwest Region soccer tournament, 2-0. It was only the second loss of the year for the Knights, who finished their season 14-2. The most wins recorded by any previous Cave Spring boys' soccer team was 13 in 1995.
``Even though we got a school record in wins, I'm disappointed,'' Cave Spring coach Bruce Mahan said.
``Holy cow!'' exclaimed E.C. Glass coach Chip Berry, clenching a fist as the final horn sounded. The Hilltoppers raised their record to 12-4-3, and now face the winner of Monday's C.D. Hylton-Brook Point game.
``We'd got a great scouting report on these [Cave Spring] guys from Blacksburg,'' Berry said. ``They have a lot of speed up front, so we used four bulldog marking backs who we rotated in pairs. And then Jordan Pugh, our sweeper, was very solid.''
Glass got a goal in each half. Jimbo Capps scored just prior to intermission, and Ryan Webb added the clincher midway through the second period.
The Knights outshot Glass 21-15, but seemed to have difficulty converting their scoring opportunities. ``We just couldn't put the ball in the net,'' Mahan said. ``We'd been averaging four or five goals a game.''
The Knights were whistled for several yellow cards early in the game, and Cave Spring captain Brian Sharp thought that had an effect on his team. ``I think our momentum went down when the refs made those calls,'' Sharp said. ``And then we got it back in the second half, and played well - Glass just played better.''
Sharp noted that Glass has advanced in regional tournament play before, while the Knights have yet to win a game at that level. ``They've got more experience,'' Sharp said.
Cave Spring played at a furious pace early in the second half, but misfired on several scoring attempts. ``They were unlucky a few times,'' Berry said. ``Shots that could have gone in were either over the bar or wide. But that sometimes happens when you're frustrated.''
An apparent goal from Cave Spring's Andy Newton with 33:41 left in the game was disallowed because of an offsides penalty. ``It was hard to tell from our angle,'' Mahan said. ``I'll just withold comment on that.''
Ten minutes after Newton's goal was nullified, Cave Spring's Stephen Kunkle had a scoring chance stopped by Hilltopper goalie Joe Nelson's diving save.
``The defense that Glass played was absolutely tenacious. They were very scrappy,'' Mahan said.
LENGTH: Medium: 60 linesby CNB