Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 8, 1995 TAG: 9506080089
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: M.J. DOUGHERTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CROZET LENGTH: Medium
Who could blame the Blacksburg High defender? Piersol broke a scoreless tie in the 70th minute of the Group AA soccer championship game, and the Indians went on to down host Western Albermarle 2-0.
The title was the third for Blacksburg (18-0-1) in the seven years there has been a state tournament. The Indians are 52-1-5 with two state championships over the last three seasons.
The loss ended a 14-match winning streak for the Warriors (19-3).
Piersol started the ball down the right sideline and then passed the ball to Steve Cherry, a forward. Cherry found midfielder Mark Decker in the corner. Decker then crossed the ball back to Piersol, who headed it into the net.
``The midfield was just wide open,'' Piersol said. ``I just tried to spread things out a bit. I passed it out to the flank. Then I kept running. I saw it come across. I didn't have to do anything. The ball was in the right spot. I feel like I was the lucky one because I got to score.''
Blacksburg coach Shelley Blumenthal said: ``You could see it coming. You knew what was going to happen if Mark could get to the ball.''
Blacksburg recorded its 11th shutout of the season. To do so, it had to withstand offensive barrages by the Warriors at the beginning of each half.
``It was all defense - the defense did the work,'' said Indians goalkeeper Ben Pinkerton, who made eight saves. ``We just knew we had to do the basics. This wasn't a time for doing anything new. We had to do the same things we've done all year. We've beaten some powerhouses this year and this is one of them.''
Foremost in the Indians' defensive effort was the play of midfielder Jon Freeman. Freeman made Western Albermarle's Andrew Novak, an all-state midfielder and a 25-goal scorer, a non-factor.
``When the ball was played to his feet, I didn't give him the room to turn around,'' Freeman said. ``When he did get it, I tried to take it away from him.''
After the Indians' first goal, Western Albermarle still had 10 minutes, plus any extra time the referee might add for stoppages in play to tie.
But the Warriors only had one good scoring opportunity, and the crossing pass by Novak went wide and across the end line.
Meanwhile, Blacksburg continued to press offensively when it had the opportunity. Three minutes into extra time, Kurt Williams scored off a corner kick by Brian Shrader.
``We had a corner kick, and I started sneaking up,'' Williams said. ``Nobody was marking me, so I was able to make the kick.''
by CNB