ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, December 8, 1995 TAG: 9512080055
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
MEMO: ***CORRECTION***
Published correction ran on December 9, 1995.
University of Virginia men's soccer player Brandon Pollard attended
J.R. Tucker High School in Richmond. A story in Friday's Sports section
gave the wrong high school.
DEFENDER RETURNS to his hometown in search of his fourth consecutive NCAA Division I soccer crown.
Brandon Pollard can't think of a more ideal place for his college soccer career to end than in his hometown of Richmond.
If it has the desired conclusion, that is.
Pollard, expected to be named a first-team All-American for the second year, will take the next-to-last step toward a fourth Division I championship when top-ranked Virginia (21-0-2) meets No.11 Duke (15-6-1) at 4:30 p.m. today in the semifinals at University of Richmond Stadium.
Portland (16-2-3) and Wisconsin (18-4-1) will meet at 2 p.m. for the right to face the Virginia-Duke winner Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
The Blue Devils handed UVa one of its two ties, scoring twice in the final 1:35 of a 3-3 overtime game Oct.22, and are 5-5-2 against the Cavaliers since 1985. The series between the teams stands at 25-25-7.
``I think, like us, Duke is an extremely competitive team with a very strong will to win,'' said Pollard, a senior defender. ``As I think we showed this past weekend, Virginia teams characteristically pick up their play in the postseason.''
The Cavaliers won their past two games by scores of 4-0 (Hartwick) and 4-1 (Brown) and have a 21-0-2 record in NCAA play since their last ``true'' loss, 3-2, to Howard in 1988. N.C. State ousted Virginia from the 1990 tournament on penalty kicks in a game that was tied 1-1.
Since then, UVa has won four straight NCAA titles, giving the Cavaliers five championships in the past six years. The men's soccer players in UVa's 1995 graduating class never lost a postseason game, either in the ACC or NCAA tournaments.
Pollard and his fellow seniors would like to share that distinction, and they even can go one step better. The Cavaliers, for all their championships, never have gone through a season undefeated.
Unlike past UVa teams, this year's never experienced a slump. At least one of the reasons has been the steadying influence of seniors Damian Silvera and Pollard, who has become one of the elite players in college soccer without scoring a single goal in four years.
``This is true,'' Pollard said earlier this week. ``I've hit 'em over and hit 'em to the side. But, personally, it's almost sweeter to get an assist. That's what I look for statistically all these years. It's nice to get goals, but to set somebody else up, both of us benefit.
``I haven't really looked to get a goal. I've rarely cut inside. I usually try to hit the end line and get one across to one of my teammates. I've had goals in pick-up games but the last major one was when I was playing with the Under-18 National team and we had a scrimmage game with Duke.''
Although Pollard frequently is responsible for an opponent's best offensive player, his own offensive contributions have not gone unappreciated. He assisted on the game-winning goals in Virginia's victories over Rutgers (2-1) and Indiana (1-0) in the men's soccer final four in Davidson, N.C., last year.
``What I saw in Brandon [as a prospect] was that he is very competitive, he's fast and he likes to defend, which is unique in this day and age,'' UVa coach Bruce Arena said. ``He not only can defend, but he can come forward. He's a dangerous guy coming out of the back. Plus, he's left-footed.''
Of course, one would never know that to watch the grace with which Pollard kicks the ball with either foot, but one of his left-footed blasts - Arena says 95 percent of soccer players are right-footed - found the toe of Billy Walsh for a goal late in Sunday's game with Brown.
Pollard pumped a fist in the air and did a little dance ``because that meant I had scored a point in five straight NCAA games,'' he said. ``I felt pretty good about that.''
Pollard is one of only three players from Richmond to play for Virginia during Arena's 18 seasons, but he has not disappointed. He was listed as the top defender on Parade magazine's All-America team in 1991, when he missed much of his senior year at Douglas Freeman High School to play for the Under-18 team.
``Bringing it home to Richmond in my fourth year and for [a possible] fourth national championship, it's almost like a dream come true,'' he said.
LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: PETE EMERSON. Brandon Pollard, a senior defender, hopesby CNBthe Cavs can finish the season undefeated this weekend.