Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 5, 1990 TAG: 9003052138
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
"Yeah, when that baby came on, I was the happiest guy around," Whitfield said. "Boy, I loved seeing that red light."
A red light that, at least for the time being, stopped a red alert for the Virginia Lancers.
Whitfield rifled a 35-foot slap shot into the net with one minute left in overtime to lead the Lancers to a pivotal 5-4 victory over the Nashville Knights on Sunday night at the LancerLot in Vinton.
The victory snapped a four-game home losing streak and allowed Virginia (35-21, 76 points) to cling to first place in the East Coast Hockey League standings.
With four games left in the regular season, the Lancers remain two points ahead of second-place Erie (34-22) and Winston-Salem (34-22), both of which also won Sunday.
"We're two up with four left," said coach Dave Allison, temporarily relieved at Virginia's position. "We still control our own destiny, and that's what we wanted all along."
The victory was not the prettiest of the Lancers' season, but none have been bigger. After dropping 6-0 and 7-1 games in the previous 48 hours, a stunned Virginia team had to beat sixth-place Nashville, a club it taken six of seven from heading into Sunday's contest.
"We were in dire need of this," Allison said. "No two ways about it, we absolutely had to win this game."
Whitfield gave the Lancers some absolution. He took a nice pass out front from forward Dan Richards, set up, and whistled a low howitzer that bounded off Nashville goalie Dan Deliandias' pads into the twine.
"Danny came around and dropped the puck," Whitfield said. "I just buried my head and let her rip.
"I looked up and saw the red light. Wow! It was great."
Especially for a guy whose mistake let the game slide to overtime with only 2:37 left in regulation.
"If I'd gotten the puck out of our zone on the power play, they wouldn't have scored and there would have been no OT," Whitfield said. "So I felt like, yeah, I owed something. It was up to my rear end to do something to get out of this mess."
Mission accomplished - for now.
"Yeah, we've been struggling," Whitfield said. "We've been play too tense, I think. We've been feeling the pressure.
"We were up eight points with 10 [games] to go and maybe some people thought it was over. We found out different, though."
The Lancers must have known something good might happen when Steve Herniman, best known for his powerful right fist, beat Deliandias with a slap shot from 45 feet at 1:10 of the first period. It was the first goal in 24 games for the hulking defenseman.
"That's my first goal since summertime," said Herniman, beaming. "And, man, on the second shift, I hit the post. I didn't know what was going on.
"Two points in two nights. Nothing can stop me when I'm hot. I'd better call my mother about this," Herniman said.
The first of Jeff Waver's two goals and a score by yet another defenseman, Scott Drevitch, put Virginia ahead 3-0 early in the second period.
But like everything else these days, victory was not going to come easy for Virginia. Nashville rallied to tie it at 4 with 2:37 left, when Scott Rettew tipped a long Bob Kennedy slap shot out of the air past defenseless Lancers goaltender Dean Cook.
"We did it the hard way," Whitfield said.
But at least it got done.
"We've got to get better this week," Allison said. "We've got Erie [at Erie on Friday] and Winston-Salem [at home Sunday].
"I guess we'll see who is the best team."
\ ICE CHIPS: Allison praised the play of the line of Greg Neish, Marco Fuster and Bill Gutenberg. Neish played his first game in more than a month after an ankle injury. Gutenberg, who was in suit and tie as an assistant coach Friday against Hampton Roads, has been on and off the roster all season. . . . Goalie Steve McKichan, who missed Saturday's game due to sickness, sat out again. It was the final game of his five-game suspension for kicking Nashville's Rob Lavasseur in a game here Jan. 20. . . . On the Virginia roster, Neish replaced Doug Davis, who was put on waivers Wednesday only to be called back for the past two games. . . . Playoff fever? The game attracted 1,006 fans. . . . Knoxville officially was eliminated from playoff contention. Nashville 0220-4 Virginia 1301-5
First period-1, Virginia, Herniman 1 (Vitale), 1:10. Penalties-None.
Second period-2, Virginia, Waver 26 (Hobson, Whitfield), 2:30. 3, Virginia, Drevitch 11 (Fuster, Neish), 4:23. 4, Nashville, Engevik (O'Brien), 13:12. 5, Nashville, Marcinkiewicz (Rettew, Bukta), 14:24. 6, Virginia, Waver 27 (Vitale, Rouse), 17:57. Penalties-None.
Third period-7, Nashville, Levasseur, 4:05. 8, Nashville, Rettew (Kennedy), 17:23 (pp). Penalties-Salzbrunn, Na (high-sticking), 8:26; Drevitch, Va (interference), 17:23 (pp).
Overtime-9, Virginia, Whitfield 8 (Richards, Waver), 4:00.
Shots on goal-Nashville 5-12-8-1-26; Virginia 10-8-10-3-31.
Power-play opportunities-Nashville 1-of-1; Virginia 0-of-1.
Goalies-Nashville, Deliandias (31 shots-26 saves); Virginia, Cook (26-22).
A-1,006.
by CNB