DATE: Wednesday, July 16, 1997              TAG: 9707160646

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY ROBIN BRINKLEY,STAFF WRITER

DATELINE: HAMPTON                           LENGTH:   44 lines

EAST WINS HARD-FOUGHT ALL-STAR SOCCER GAME

Kempsville's Adam Schultz clutched his East Most Valuable Player Award and talked about how surprised he was at the level of play in the Virginia High School Coaches Association all-star soccer game Tuesday night at Darling Stadium.

He must have been talking about the defense.

Schultz, the All-Tidewater player of the year who's headed to William and Mary, didn't score a point or take a shot. But considering that it took 71 minutes to produce the goal that won it for the East 1-0, there weren't a whole lot of candidates to consider.

Schultz, who played the entire game at center-midfield, at least seemed to be in the middle of the action when the East came close to scoring.

He stole a pass, faked two defenders and made a perfect cross only to watch Scott Hopson pound a shot off the goalie's chest at the 17-minute mark.

Early in the second half Schultz had the ball on a 2-on-2 break deep inside the West 18 but Hopson didn't read the play.

Later Schultz took a short pass off a free kick from the 18 and drove it way over the goal in another instance of miscommunication.

The team practiced only twice before the game and that included a brief walk through Tuesday.

``I thought maybe there would be a little more offense,'' said Pat Kilkenny, who led Cox in scoring last spring. ``But everybody was playing different positions.''

The East finally connected with nine minutes left when Jermaine Burke took a pass from Lafayette's Andy Cross made a run down the middle before sliding in the ball into the left corner of the net.

That made a winner of Kempsville's Brian Richards, who shared the East goaltending chore with Cox's Colin Kibler.

First Colonial's Robby O'Donnell and Churchland's Landon Moore also represented South Hampton Roads for the East. ILLUSTRATION: Photos

L. TODD SPENCER

Goalie Colin Kibler of Cox High, right, and John Nobile defend the

East net Tuesday in the Virginia High School Coaches Association

all-star soccer game.

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