Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 27, 1994 TAG: 9403270101
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Hardly anyone else did.
"It's a crazy game and this is one of the craziest I've ever seen," said Roanoke coach Bill Pilat, after his Maroons had fallen 12-11 on a goal by Tydings after 2 minutes, 38 seconds of overtime.
"Unbelievable! I'm in shock, numb," Pilat said. "I felt like anything that could go wrong for us - and everything that could go right for them - did."
The Generals (4-3) trailed 11-6 before sophomore Ande Jenkins scored with 5:59 remaining in regulation. It was Jenkins who sent the game into overtime on an assist from Tydings with 1:22 left.
The same combination clicked on the winning goal, which capped a six-point afternoon for Tydings, a junior midfielder who had not played since suffering a bruised kidney 10 days earlier.
"I was passing blood, so I can tell you it was pretty scary," said Tydings, who had five points in W&L's first five games. "I wasn't OK'd to play until 5 o'clock Friday."
At that point, practice was almost over. Even when he sat down after dinner to prepare his game plan, Generals coach Jim Stagnitta had Tydings' name in parentheses, although he started him.
"I don't care if he's practiced or not," Stagnitta said. "We need Tydings. He's our most settled and patient and composed player. They were testing him every day, but there was a point where I thought, `No way.' "
Nevertheless, the Generals took a 3-0 lead Saturday, with attackman Russell Croft scoring the first two goals. Eighth-ranked Roanoke (4-3) came back to take a 5-4 lead, however, when midfielder James Kammerman scored with 26 seconds to play in the first half.
After 13th-ranked W&L scored to make it 5-5, Roanoke got goals from four players in taking a 9-5 lead with 9:47 left. At that point, it hardly seemed possible that W&L could score more goals in the last 10 minutes than it had in the first 50.
"I think I made a mistake when I had us hang on to the ball," said Stagnitta, whose Generals were in no hurry to press the early action. "We found out at the end that we were capable of running by them."
Pilat said it wasn't a case of the Maroons sitting on their lead; rather, they couldn't hold on to the ball despite winning 15 of 25 faceoffs, including three of the last four.
"The problem is, we're not good at holding the ball," Pilat said. "That's not our offense. It was a complete role reversal. They went to the goal, which is not usually their game.
"This might be the toughest loss [of Pilat's six-year tenure] because of who we were playing and the circumstances. We had it in our grasp."
Senior attackman Erik Daly scored a career-high four goals for Roanoke, which had a decent opportunity to start the overtime period. Pepper DeTuro had a tough angle, but W&L freshman goalie Doug Gubner needed to stay low to make his 18th save.
In recent years, the winner of the W&L-Roanoke game has received a berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament and the loser has stayed home, but the Generals still have some ground to make up after losing to unheralded Hampden-Sydney 12-6 in their second game.
Stagnitta, who has resurrected the Generals' program in his five years as head coach, did not hesitate when asked if he has had a more memorable victory.
"This is it," he said. "We're so young and inexperienced, and just the way we did it . . . it's the biggest by far."
by CNB