Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 9, 1993 TAG: 9306100419
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Bob Teitlebaum
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
"At first, I didn't like it," he said. "But my coaches told me good defense makes good offense. Now I've grown to like it."
Logan has grown to like it so much that his play has made him the Timesland boys' soccer player of the year. He had to beat out three other strong candidates nominated by Timesland coaches. Those were co-Region IV players of the year Todd Lyons and Chris Evans of Blacksburg, and Cave Spring's Bobby Warnick.
Evans is the only player to make All-Timesland two years in a row. His coach, Shelley Blumenthal, was voted Timesland's soccer coach of the year for the second consecutive season. That makes Blumenthal, whose team plays tonight at Chancellor for the Group AA state title, 2-for-2 in two seasons as the Indians' head coach.
Logan helped North Cross, a private school that played a strong contingent of larger public schools, finish with 14 shutouts in 20 games. The Raiders never gave up more than two goals as they won the Virginia Independent Conference spring championship.
"I played at midfield and saved a lot of goals," Logan said of his switch to defense. "At first, I had a feeling that wasn't my spot, until I realized we had need of a strong defense. Then I started to enjoy it."
Logan said opposing offenses had to come to him "and I realized I could challenge them."
The North Cross star was reluctant to take all the credit for the Raiders' outstanding defense. "All the guys I played with on defense have played with me for a number of years," he said. "We know what each other can do and that's why we do so good."
The unit included Ry Moore, Brad Blum, Jesse Webster and keepers Jon Kinney and Eric Mull.
Logan plans to attend the University of Virginia, where his soccer will take a different form.
"They're national champs," he said. "Once I get up there, I'll take a look [at walking on]. But I'll probably play club soccer."
Cave Spring, William Byrd and North Cross joined Blacksburg with two first-team selections each on the squad picked by the Roanoke Times & World-News sports department. Jimmy Garcerant was the other Knight on the team as Cave Spring dominated the Roanoke Valley District.
Logan was joined by teammate Mark Roberts.
Byrd was represented on the first team by offensive standouts Andy McCaskill and Kevin Niday. The All-Timesland squad was rounded out by Martinsville's Greg Barth and Patrick Henry's J.P. Wilson. Christiansburg's Charlie Kreye, thanks to a great performance in a Group AA state tournament game against William Byrd, beat out a host of good players to become the All-Timesland goalie.
Blumenthal beat out North Cross' Richard Cook for coaching honors. Cook's team consistently competed and won against schools with much larger enrollments.
For the Blacksburg coach, it has been an almost-perfect fit since he followed Pat Johnson at Blacksburg.
"I'm surprised [at the success]. I knew we had good players, but we had lost so much from the two previous teams," said Blumenthal, who was an assistant to Johnson for two years before taking over.
"Everyone else was catching up. In some respects, my kids have overachieved. That's because they've worked hard. We have good talent, but [hard work] has taken them to the next level. Now the state championship, that's what we want to do. That's a lofty goal considering we lost eight starters [from the 1992 team]."
Boy's Soccer
1993 All-Timesland Team
GREG BARTH: Martinsville, junior forward. Scored 18 goals and had nine assists for a young Bulldogs team that was eliminated by William Byrd in the Region III tournament and finished with a 12-6 record.
CHRIS EVANS: Blacksburg, senior midfielder. Co-Region IV and New River District player of the year with teammate Todd Lyons. Going into tonight's game at Chancellor, he is the Indians' leading scorer, with five goals and 17 assists.
JIMMY GARCERANT: Cave Spring, senior forward. Had six goals and 14 assists as the Knights won a playoff for the Roanoke Valley District regular-season crown and won the district tournament.
CHARLIE KREYE: Christiansburg, junior goalie. Was about even with second-team choice Kevin Schug of Blacksburg after the regular season. Won All-Timesland honors with a great first-round Group AA state tournament performance against William Byrd, making 27 saves in the Blue Demons' 2-1 upset victory.
JOHN LOGAN: North Cross, senior sweeper. Timesland's player of the year anchored a defense that gave up seven goals in 20 games against the toughest schedule in Timesland.
TODD LYONS: Blacksburg, senior forward. Co-player of the year with Chris Evans in the New River District and Region IV as they combined to lead the Indians to the Group AA state final for the second consecutive year. Had 13 goals and five assists.
ANDY McCASKILL: William Byrd, junior forward. The second-leading scorer during the regular season for the perennial Blue Ridge District champions, with 23 goals and eight assists.
KEVIN NIDAY: William Byrd, senior halfback. Only Byrd player to score against Christiansburg in Group AA state first-round game. Led the Terriers with 25 goals and 15 assists during the regular season.
MARK ROBERTS: North Cross, senior forward. The Raiders' second-leading scorer, with seven goals and five assists. Scored the winning goal against Patrick Henry and scored twice against Cave Spring, both Group AAA rivals.
BOBBY WARNICK: Cave Spring, senior halfback. Was in a close battle for Timesland player of the year with Lyons, Evans and Logan. Voted the Roanoke Valley District's player of the year. Led the Knights (11-5-1), the top RVD team, with 14 goals and eight assists.
J.P. WILSON: Patrick Henry, senior back. Though he played primarily on defense, Wilson led the Patriots in scoring with four goals and seven assists. PH was the RVD runner-up to Cave Spring and lost the regular-season championship in a playoff with the Knights.
SHELLEY BLUMENTHAL: Blacksburg, Timesland coach of the year. Won the award for the second consecutive year. In two years, his Indians have lost two games and tied two. They will make their second consecutive appearance in the Group AA state final tonight at Chancellor.
Second team: Joel Allen, Liberty, senior midfielder; Chris Almond, William Byrd, junior fullback; Jason Boyle, Blacksburg, junior back; Eric Bremner, Martinsville, senior back; Michael Dowdy, Blacksburg, junior sweeper; A.J. Esguerra, North Cross, senior forward; Kelly Graham, William Fleming, senior forward; David Penn, Cave Spring, senior fullback; Kevin Schug, Blacksburg, senior goalie; Carson Shearer, Martinsville junior midfielder; U.T. Thack, Franklin County junior midfielder; Casey Underwood, Radford, junior forward; Joel Young, Radford, senior midfielder.
Keywords:
SOCCER ALL-TIMESLAND
Memo: ***CORRECTION***