ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, April 5, 1996 TAG: 9604050104
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DANIEL UTHMAN STAFF WRITER
Mike and Ann Levan were extremely nervous Thursday before the North Cross-Patrick Henry high school boys' soccer game at Green Hill Park.
Their son David is a senior on the North Cross team. Another son, Mark, is a senior on the Patrick Henry squad. ``We're hoping for a scoreless tie,'' Mike Levan said at halftime.
The parents got their wish. After two overtimes, the game's final score was 0-0, and Mr. and Mrs. Levan couldn't have been happier. Last summer, Mark transferred back to Patrick Henry from North Cross. The boys' father said his sons had never faced each other in sports but added that when Mark transferred, ``I knew when Mark went back to PH that this was going to happen.''
No one, however, considered they might end up even.
``I thought we were going to win,'' said Patrick Henry coach Ed McMichael. ``I felt we were the stronger team; we just didn't finish.''
The Patriots' best chance came with one minute left in the second overtime. Mark Levan made a perfect lead pass to Cory Evans, who got his foot on it just to the left of the goal. Evans pushed it toward a mostly empty net, but freshman goalie Brad Fielder dived to the right and got his fingers on it. The ball then rolled across the goalie box before going out of bounds next to the far post. The Patriots (1-0-2) fell to their knees at the sight.
``We need to work on getting more aggressive and put it inside the frame,'' McMichael said.
North Cross (2-1-3) almost didn't allow it to go the extra periods. With about 15 minutes left in regulation, Noukanh Thespasouk fired a hard shot at Patriots goalie Will Krause. Krause batted it down, but in the direction of Raiders forward Mark Wise.
Wise was a few feet from the goal when he got his foot under the ball, sending it up toward the net. But before it got there, it smacked the bottom of the crossbar and ricocheted back into the field.
``He's one of our best players,'' said North Cross coach Richard Cook. ``He saved our butts half the game. We had opportunities to win, but so did they.''
Patrick Henry outshot the Raiders 23-6 but as McMichael said, ``They weren't quality shots.''
Cook and McMichael had worked with players from both teams in the past, and all the players were on the same side at one time or another. So it wasn't only the Levan family that had funny feelings about this one. ``It was awfully intense,'' Cook said.
Even though they are brothers, only the Levans could truly grasp the meaning of ``A tie is like kissing your sister.''
``It was a weird situation, playing your brother,'' said Mark Levan. ``We didn't say a word about it all week. We were going to leave it up to the game. Since it ended up in a tie, I guess nobody's going to say anything.''
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 58 linesby CNB