DATE: Sunday, June 1, 1997                  TAG: 9706010218

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C7   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY VICKI L. FRIEDMAN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   42 lines

PIRANHAS SNACK ON NEW JERSEY FOR FIRST OPENING WIN IN 3 YEARS

The earth didn't shake, though the metal bleachers at Lake Taylor Stadium did more than once Saturday night as it was history in the making for the Hampton Roads Piranhas.

For the first time in their three-year history, the Piranhas came away from the first game of the soccer season with a victory, and a shutout to boot. Hampton Roads won 3-0 over Mid-Atlantic Division foe New Jersey before a crowd that was announced at close to 600.

After a winless inaugural season and an 0-5 start last season, defender Sandy McQuerry couldn't say enough about how much it meant to start the season on a roll.

``This is a real upbeat note for us,'' she said. ``We had a couple of people who didn't return this year and we got some quality players to replace them. For once we had depth from the bench, and the bench really helped us tonight, with the other team only having 12 or 13 players.''

That used to be the Piranhas. McQuerry, who has been with the squad since its inception, remembers the days when Hampton Roads, affiliated with the United Systems of Independent Soccer Leagues, barely fielded a roster. Now the roster features 20 names, many of them newcomers from exceptional college programs.

Among them: Whitney Cali, a midfielder who just finished her junior year at William and Mary. The Green Run graduate had a goal and an assist and was particularly pleased, having practiced with the Piranhas only four times.

``I'm amazed how well we clicked during the game as a team,'' Cali said. ``We came out and worked so well together.''

Chrissie Smith scored the opening goal off a breakaway that sent her flying past two defenders with 14 minutes remaining in the first half. The Piranhas clung to that lead until late in the second period, when the cushion goals came 40 seconds apart.

First, Carrie Proost made a sensational save, kicking a ball slated to go out of bounds backward to Cali. Keeper Emily Main kept her eye on Proost, giving Cali the easy putaway. Brandy Wheeler added another off a booming kick that Main was unable to control, and it looked like slow motion watching the ball slither off her hands into the net.

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu