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

DATE: SUNDAY, June 4, 1995                   TAG: 9506060074
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: E11   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ANDREA KUHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

RIVERDAWGS ARE AT A LOSS WITH NO STARS

Roanoke was without three of its top offensive Dawgs - Dante Washington, Eric McClellan and Ivan Sampson - and looking to end a three game-losing streak.

The Mustangs scored three goals in the second half and rode Roanoke's misfortune to a 3-1 victory in an Eastern Premier Division game of the United Systems of Independent Soccer Leagues at Cave Spring Junior High School.

``We didn't know Dante and Eric had left, and when we saw Sampson on the sideline it was truly our good fortune,'' said Dennis Lee, general manager of the Mustangs, who won their second game of the season after an 0-5 start.

Washington and McClellan departed last week for the Washington Warthogs of the more prestigious Continental Indoor Soccer League, while Sampson sat out the game with a stress fracture in his right foot.

``We had to make a lot of adjustments for losing Dante and Eric, which we could have done if we had had Ivan,'' said Ed McMichael, who took over as coach of the RiverDawgs last week after Virginia Tech women's coach Sam Okpodu resigned. ``We had three of our primary attackers out and that hurt us.''

The teams played a scoreless first half, with the RiverDawgs (2-5) outshooting Washington 5-2.

Grayson Prillaman, a Roanoke native and former NCAA Division III All-American at Roanoke College, opened the scoring with 31 minutes, 13 seconds gone. Prillaman took an assist from Mark Ellis on a corner kick and chipped it over the head of Washington goalkeeper Jan DeWeer.

The Mustangs responded two minutes later when forward Jose Melendez skipped past Roanoke defenders and fired unassisted past goalie Aaron Ewert to make it 1-1.

Washington scored again at 46:09 on a long shot from the top of the box by Adonis Maxwell and at 53:47 on an open header by Leonel Suazo.

``In the second half, we put five in the midfield and that really opened it up for us,'' Lee said. ``On a small field like this you've got to play wide.''

Ewert made four saves for Roanoke, which outshot the Mustangs 10-7. McMichael said not converting those opportunities was his team's biggest problem.

``I'm not as disappointed with their three [goals] as I was with our not getting as many,'' he said. ``But I'm starting to feel more comfortable with my own role'' as coach.

McMichael said Sampson, a native of Trinidad who played at James Madison University, could be ready for the RiverDawgs' next game, Friday night at home against the Raleigh (N.C.) Flyers.