THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 11, 1994 TAG: 9406110486
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940611 LENGTH: VIRGINIA BEACH
That was a different Hampton Roads team, Hurricanes coach Sonny Travis said. His improving club offered plenty of evidence to support his argument Friday night at the Center for Effective Learning.
{REST} Led by Ian Spooner's two goals, a goal and an assist by Wayne Pratt and a pair of assists by Mark Waite, the Hurricanes blew out the Heat, 4-1, before an appreciative gathering of 2,168.
``The team is starting to play well,'' said Travis, whose Hurricanes improved to 4-6 with a second straight victory, while dropping the Heat to 6-2. ``We're coming around, starting to finish things off offensively.''
No one did that better than Spooner, who came to Hampton Roads from Radford University.
After being outplayed for much of the opening 10 minutes, the Hurricanes' offense clicked about 14 minutes into play. Waite brought the ball down the left side, then drilled a low crossing pass toward Spooner on the other side of the field. Spooner dove and, nearly parallel to the ground, headed the ball into the lower right corner, past Columbia goalie Jaro Zawislan.
``Lucky,'' Spooner called it, smiling. ``I saw Jaro go down and I knew that side would be open. I've got a bad leg and I didn't want to stretch it, so I dived. Made it look good, huh?''
Spooner was at the center of the action throughout much of the first half. Minutes after his goal, he was stopped on a brilliant sliding save by Zawislan.
Later, he broke free of the Heat defense and was tripped in the penalty area, giving the Hurricanes a penalty shot. Travis chose Jon Hall to take the shot, but he blasted the ball high and over the crossbar.
Twenty-four seconds later, however, Hall assisted on Joe Lenard's goal, a shot that hit Zawislan and a Columbia defender, then dribbled behind them and into the cage for a 2-0 lead.
Columbia got a goal 24 seconds before halftime to cut the deficit to 2-1. A ``turning point,'' Travis called it.
Four minutes into the second half, Pratt took a long clearing pass, dribbled furiously down the right side, then pulled Zawislan out of position before slipping the ball to Spooner alone on the opposite side.
The lanky forward softly redirected the ball into the goal to open a 3-1 margin.
Columbia1 0-1
Hampton Roads2 2-4
Scoring: 1, Hampton Roads, Spooner, 16:41; 2, Hampton Roads, Lenard, 21:15; 3, Columbia, Kurland, 29:34; 4, Hampton Roads, Spooner, 34:21; 5, Hampton Roads, Pratt, 37:53.
Shots on goal: Columbia 5, Hampton Roads 10. Saves: Columbia, Zawislan 6; Hampton Roads, Figureido 4. A: 2,168.
by CNB