THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 3, 1994 TAG: 9411030547
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LEE TOLLIVER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
After winning the last five Group AAA championships, the important thing for the Cox field hockey team isn't the margin of victory - it's the way the Falcons play.
And when you've outscored opponents 85-2, it's about the only thing to improve on.
During a 6-1 victory over Bayside in the Beach District tournament final Wednesday at Cox, something was missing and it displeased Falcons coach Nancy Fowlkes.
``In tournament play, you have to be able to string together two, three or four good games,'' Fowlkes said. ``I wasn't pleased with our sharpness today. It wasn't like yesterday. We were doing things wrong and I wasn't happy.''
Fowlkes was most unhappy early in the second half.
Cox (16-0) held a 3-0 lead on three Kim Miller goals, but let Bayside get off to a quick second-half start.
The Marlins (13-4) scored 13 seconds into play, when Dawn Bell took the opening tap, raced downfield into the scoring circle and poked the ball past a challenging Kim Iman.
It was more than 12 minutes before Cox recovered and began playing like its usual high-scoring self.
With just under 18 minutes remaining, Miller scored her fourth goal of the day on an assist from Lauren Crenshaw to get Cox back on track.
Cox went on the offensive from there, nailing three hard shots at the Bayside goal - two were saved by Marlins keeper Jen Walter and another was stopped by her defense.
But with 11 minutes left, Miller took a sizzling crossing pass from Katie McDonald and blasted in her fifth goal of the day and 39th of the season.
``It all depends on the pass,'' said Miller, who took a five-goal lead over teammate Kirsty Hale. ``It's more than just one step. It depends on the team and I give credit to the team for everything I do.''
Cox scored its final goal when Hale sent a short pass to Crenshaw in front of the goal.
It was the first time in recent memory that Hale didn't score - despite taking nine of her team's 21 shots.
Defensive specialist Sally Tempest thinks her team will gain back its intensity when it plays in an Eastern Region automatic semifinal berth at noon Wednesday at Cox.
``For some reason or another, we weren't as ready for this game as we should have been,'' Tempest said. ``But I think we got it out of our system for the rest of the way.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by BILL TIERNAN
Cox's Katie McDonald avoids Bayside's Amber Stout (24) and Marie
Legge in Beach District final.
by CNB