Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 6, 1993 TAG: 9306060188
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: M.J. DOUGHERTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Blacksburg High School defeated Christiansburg 2-0 Saturday night in the semifinals of the state Group AA soccer tournament.
It was the fifth victory in five tries for the unbeaten Indians (17-0-2) over their New River District rivals. This time, Blacksburg had to work hard to eliminate the Blue Demons (12-7-1).
The Indians will play at Chancellor High (17-0) in Fredericksburg for the state title Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Blacksburg broke a scoreless tie midway through the second half when Todd Lyons headed in a crossing pass from Steve Cherry.
"I had four headers tonight, and one went in," said Lyons, who scored his second goal in state tournament play. "It's something Mr. B [coach Shelley Blumenthal] taught us. We have three or four different drills. We work on moving the ball outside, then putting it in the middle. That's the hardest shot for a [goal] keeper to stop."
Mark Hutchins then provided the Indians with another goal about 10 minutes later.
Christiansburg goalie Charlie Kreye came out to stop a long shot by Chris Evans. The ball bounced hard off Kreye. In the scramble, Ben Cherry fed Hutchins, who sent the ball into the net.
"That's what I do best," Hutchins said about his play in the confusion in front of the net. "I didn't know what was going on. Then I saw the ball in front of me."
Unlike the team's previous meetings - decided by a combined score of 21-1 - the Indians could not run up the score. The difference was in Christiansburg's attitude and tactics.
"We played with high intensity, and we played with 110 percent heart," said keeper Kreye. "We had nothing to lose."
Said Demons coach Sam Gursal: "We wanted to limit their chances in our defensive third of the field. We did that for 60 minutes. But it wasn't a district game where a tie is a tie. So we tried to put a little bit of [offensive] pressure on. Then they got two beautiful goals. That was it."
Those goals were made possible because Blacksburg did not worry when it didn't score in the first half.
"At halftime, I could see in the reaction of the team, that they had their composure," said Blumenthal. "I felt like we picked things up in the first 10 minutes of the second half. And I felt if we kept the pressure up that we'd eventually score."
With Christiansburg stressing defense to defuse the Indians' pressure, keeper Kevin Schug faced only four shots and had to make one save as the Indians recorded their fifth postseason shutout.
"For most of the night, the defensive kept tough," Schug said. "All I had to do was collect the garbage as it came through." Christiansburg00-0 Blacksburg02-2
Goals - Lyons, Hutchins.
Assists - S. Cherry, B. Cherry.
Saves - Christiansburg: Kreye 12. Blacksburg: Schug 1.
Shots - Blacksburg 25-4.
by CNB