Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 1, 1993 TAG: 9309010018
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-8 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Berrier
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Radford's men's soccer season begins with a very young, very inexperienced and very British batch of Highlanders hitting the road for five games against some of the nation's elite teams. A visit to Clemson's Death Valley will provide the Sept. 4 opener. A trip to defending national champ Virginia looms in October.
Call it the "Big Dogs and Englishmen" tour.
"I want to prepare these guys for what big-time Division I college soccer looks like," said Staley, who coaches both the men's and women's teams at Radford. "When we get back, we'll know a whole lot about each other."
Each other's names, for instance. The roster features seven freshmen, including the most-highly anticipated English quartet to hit these shores since the Beatles.
The fab four of Richard Shepherd, Lee Morton, Ricky Embleton and Matt Bennett are expected to contribute immediately to a team that lost the nucleus of a program that has averaged 13 wins a season for the past five years.
The calendar now reads 1 A.D. (After Dante). Radford all-time great Dante Washington, he of the two national scoring titles and a resume that boasts stints with the 1992 Olympic Team and 1991 consensus All-America squad, has graduated, leaving behind sizable soccer shoes to fill. If that weren't enough, record-setting goalie Frederic Rondeau and five other starters are gone.
That's where Staley's foreign legion comes in. The four Brits join a roster that already has Irishmen John Tierney, Lee Brady and Fiachra Sheridan, and Trinidad native Darryl Springer. The best returning player would have been Englishman Ian Spooner, who is sitting out this year to work on his academics.
International recruiting isn't foreign to Staley, who apparently is succeeding in finding the proper blend between American and foreign-born players.
"Recruiting in this region [the Southeast] is intense," said Staley. "We love going after the best American players, but we've broadened our recruiting base. We want to get Radford soccer worldwide exposure. We want people all over the world to know what a great place Radford is.
"We're a melting pot."
\ JUST FOR KICKS: Highlander player Graham Perkovich, Radford's third-leading scorer behind Washington and Spooner, has left school, apparently to transfer to James Madison. Perkovich, a former high school All-American, had three goals and three assists last season . . .
The women's soccer season begins Thursday at Roanoke College. The Highlander women play their first home match Sept. 5 against Big South Conference opponent UNC-Asheville. The Big South added women's soccer as a championship sport just this season, although Radford has had one of this region's top independent programs since 1982.
\ HOCKEY GOALS: After suffering seven one-goal defeats last season, the field hockey team is taking offense to the notion that it can't win a close match. In other words, a more-experienced offense could help the Highlanders improve on last year's 6-11 record.
Senior forward Kokeda Sheppard, last year's leading scorer with seven goals, is back to lead the attack.
Radford, which plays field hockey in the Colonial Athletic Association, will have a tough time being as staunch defensively as it was a year ago, when the Highlanders allowed just one opponent to score more than two goals in a match, an overtime match at that. A highlight was a 2-0 loss to national champ ODU.
\ WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Former basketball standouts Doug Day and Brian Schmall have hired agents in hopes of latching on with the Continental Basketball Association. Day, Radford's all-time leading scorer whose 401 career 3-pointers are the most in NCAA history, is awaiting a tryout with the Rapid City (S.D.) Thrillers. In the meantime, he's working as an assistant girls' basketball coach at Pulaski Middle School. Schmall, the Big South Conference's all-time assists leader, is off to try out for the Columbus (Ohio) Horizon later this week . . .
A 1-3 record is in no way representative of how well Phil Leftwich has pitched for the California Angels since being called up in July. Leftwich, who established more than a dozen pitching records at Radford from 1988-90, has a 3.43 ERA in six starts and has kept his team in every ball game. He has gotten little help from his offense and his bullpen, as evidenced in his last two starts. He allowed just two runs in nine innings against Milwaukee on Aug. 20, but took a no-decision when the Angels lost in the 10th. Last Thursday in Baltimore, he left the game leading 4-2 with two out in the seventh, but the bullpen exploded and the Angels eventually lost 9-4 . . .
Dante Washington has accepted an office job with World Cup U.S.A., effectively putting his playing career on hold. Washington was selected by Baltimore Spirit during the third round of the National Professional Soccer League's annual draft, but he opted to go to work as a liaison for World Cup instead.
Ralph Berrier Jr. covers sports for the Roanoke Times & World-News' New River Valley bureau.
by CNB