
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 27, 1991                   TAG: 9102270085
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

LACROSSE ACTION RETURNS

Washington and Lee, looking to rebuild after the loss of leading scorer Chris Mastrogiovanni and three all-conference defensemen, faces the unenviable task of opening its lacrosse season against Virginia, the No. 3-ranked team in Division I.

The Cavaliers visit Lexington today at 3 p.m., with the nucleus of last year's NCAA Tournament team, as well as former Division I midfielder of the year Andy Kraus, who missed the 1990 season with a knee injury.

Most of the other state teams begin action this weekend, including Roanoke College, ranked ninth in Division III. The Maroons, who lost most of their offensive production from last year's 8-6 team, visit Duke on Saturday.

Radford University, making its debut under new coach Steve Billings, plays host to perennial national power North Carolina at 3 p.m. Saturday.

Billings succeeds Craig Tillman, who resigned to pursue a graduate degree at Virginia Tech. Gone from last year's 4-9 team are leading scorer Rich Cavanaugh and leading career scorer Steve Ruppel. Also, top returning scorer Mike Conner is out for the year with a knee injury.

VMI brings back one of the leading scorers in the country, senior attackman Tim Nolan, who had 36 goals and 18 assists last year in helping the Keydets to a 7-5 record. VMI plays host to Greensboro College on Saturday at 2 p.m., and also has home games against Radford, UVa and W&L.

Roanoke and W&L, ranked 13th in the preseason, play the cream of Division III. The Maroons have games with No. 2 Washington College and No. 4 Salisbury State, and W&L meets Washington College, No. 3 Ohio Wesleyan and No. 7 Franklin and Marshall.

Third-team All-America Steve Mason returns in goal for Roanoke, which has back two-time All-Old Dominion Athletic Conference pick Mark Lawrence on defense. Don Bergeron was an All-ODAC attackman in 1989 before he was slowed by injuries last year.

Top returnees for W&L include top playmaker Mike Moseman and Jeff Roberts, who had 16 of his 19 goals in the last five games. Senior Tom Costello is in his third year as the starting goalie.

Virginia returnees include sophomore attackman Kevin Pehlke, leading scorer for the Cavaliers (9-5) with 34 goals and 22 assists, second-team All-America defenseman Mike Schattner and goalie Tom Groeninger.

Virginia Tech, which plays host to Randolph-Macon at 2 p.m. Saturday, is considered a club team by the school. An early-season highlight for the Hokies is a five-day, four-game trip to Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

by CNB