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

DATE: SATURDAY, May 13, 1995                   TAG: 9505150087
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: CHRIS KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

CAVE SPRING BOYS GET KICK OUT OF WIN

After two years and countless rounds of verbal sparring, Cave Spring and North Cross met once again on the boys' soccer field and did not disappoint.

Behind the play of the Timesland's leading scorer, Chris Hewitt, the Knights defeated North Cross 3-1 on Friday night in a hotly contested game at Cave Spring Junior High School.

While the game had no bearing on either team's hopes of advancing to postseason play, it did provide Cave Spring with bragging rights and prove the Knights' naysayers wrong.

``People have been saying since September that we couldn't beat them,'' Hewitt said. ``Not just people from their school, either. The game didn't mean anything, but it did give us a little bit of respect.''

Once action began on the field, it was all Cave Spring. The Knights were more aggressive for most of the first half and it payed off.

At the 22:09 mark, Cave Spring's Brian Sharp streaked down the left side of the field unchallenged and put the ball in the back of the net to open the scoring. The Knights continued to push the action, and at the 25:14 mark, the pressure again payed dividends.

Hewitt dribbled downfield, found a seam in the North Cross defense and delivered the ball to Brady Lassiter. Lassiter's shot beat Raiders goalkeeper Skip Johnson to his left, making the score 2-0.

``Our guys were so emotional,'' said Bruce Mahan, Cave Spring's coach. ``I have never seen them like that before, but I was worried it might work the other way and be crippling. But we came out as hot as could be.''

After appearing to be out of sync for the majority of the first half, North Cross came awakened from its slumber in the closing minutes of the half. The Raiders twice had good scoring opportunities, only to be denied. At the 34:14 mark, North Cross' Mark Levan headed a ball that appeared to be destined for the back of the net, only to see it tipped away by Justin Brittle. The Cave Spring keeper finished the game with 11 saves.

North Cross continued to press the action and saw its efforts rewarded when Dominic Basile headed the ball into the net at the 42:42 mark to make the score 2-1.

Cave Spring then reasserted itself, and Hewitt scored the clinching goal at the 66:56 mark.

``Cave Spring played really well,'' said Richard Cook, the North Cross coach. ``Their teamwork was the difference. They won the loose balls.''

by CNB