Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, December 12, 1994 TAG: 9412130040
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DAVIDSON, N. C. LENGTH: Medium
\ For all the goals he had scored and championships he had enjoyed, there was one void in A.J. Wood's career before Sunday.
Wood, one of Virginia soccer's most prolific scorers, had never scored a goal in an NCAA men's soccer championship game.
``In my second year, I had about eight shots and got completely demolished in almost every publication there is,'' Wood, a senior striker, said.
``All they wanted to write about [was] how many goalposts I've hit, how many crossbars I've hit, how I hadn't stepped up.''
Wood has never come up bigger than he did Sunday, when his goal with 24:54 remaining in the first half accounted for the only scoring in UVa's 1-0 victory over Indiana.
``This is my most important goal; it's what I've been trying to get forever,'' said Wood, who broke an NCAA record with his 13th goal in tournament play, including five in five playoff games this year.
``If you had asked me right after I scored if that would be the only goal of the game, I would have said, `No.' I watched the scoreboard from 29 minutes on down, saying `Come on, minutes, go off.'''
Wood, who had feared that the UVa seniors might be remembered for losing their last game, instead was able to celebrate the Cavaliers' fourth consecutive NCAA title.
``At one point, I was very sad because [my college career is] over,'' Wood said, ``but there was also a feeling of relief because we had no more games to play.
``It's amazing that we came in here - Clint [Peay] and Claudio [Reyna] and I - and joked that we'd like to have four rings. As I look back, we haven't lost a game in postseason [including the ACC Tournament].''
It was comparable, in a sense, to UVa reaching the men's basketball Final Four the season after Ralph Sampson graduated. Many wondered how the soccer team would fare after Reyna turned professional.
``There are a lot of [opposing] players I know who said, `That's it. We don't have to concentrate on Claudio. You guys aren't going to be as good this year,''' Wood said.
``Claudio took a lot of pressure off of our program and he deserves all the accolades he ever received, but it goes to show there were other characters here as well who played a part in it.''
That doesn't mean that the Cavaliers were destined to retain the championship. In addition to Reyna, they lost sweeper Brian Bates and Jeff Causey to graduation, as well as top returning scorer Mike Slivinski to academics.
Moreover, top recruit Andriy Shapowal suffered a broken foot that caused him to miss the last 14 games and national player-of-the-year candidate Mike Fisher was ruled ineligible for the final after incurring his third caution or yellow card of the postseason.
``It's been tough,'' Wood said. ``The last few weeks have been really difficult for our program, trying to continue our streak, but that just makes it more satisfying.''
by CNB