ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, December 23, 1995 TAG: 9512250027
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
ROANOKE HAS scored just eight goals in its five-game losing streak.
A few weeks ago, when the Roanoke Express broke several offensive records in its 11-3 smashing of the Wheeling Thunderbirds, one thing was crystal clear to team captain Dave Stewart.
The Express wasn't as good as that.
``I told everyone that [scoring outburst] wasn't going to happen again,'' said Stewart. ``Everyone got a false assumption of what we had.''
After that blowout on Dec.5, the Express beat South Carolina 3-0 for its eighth win in nine games. In the next four games, however, Roanoke scored six goals, all of them coming from just two players - Jeff Jablonski and Jeff Jestadt.
When the Express lost 4-2 at Richmond on Friday - with rookie Tim Christian scoring both goals - its losing streak reached five games, the longest winless streak in the club's three-year history.
The Express should have saved a few of the goals it scored against Wheeling. Just one extra goal would have made a huge difference in back-to-back 3-2 losses to Richmond on Dec.16 and to Tallahassee on Dec.17.
``Nothing we did that night [against Wheeling] went wrong,'' said Jestadt. ``It seemed like we scored on every shot. Now, we can't get anything to go right. It always seems to happen like that. One night, you're scoring 11 goals in a game, then you go into a big slump.''
The Express was just two points out of second place on Dec.15, but has now dropped to fourth place heading into tonight's game against Hampton Roads at the Roanoke Civic Center.
With center Craig Herr (13 goals, 14 assists) out because of a back injury, the Express will be hard-pressed to break out of its slump.
``Some guys have got to pick up the slack,'' said Stewart. ``[Herr] is a vital spoke in our wheel. Guys will have to work harder. We've got a lot of experience on this team [10 players returned from last year's squad]. The older guys should know how to play their way out of this. A lot of the young guys have never been through anything like this. Us older guys need to show the way out of this.''
BERTHIAUME HURTING: Express goalie Daniel Berthiaume has been hampered by a sore back and sore leg in practice this week and was listed as questionable for the weekend games. Berthiaume, who had lost four games in a row after winning seven straight from Nov.22-Dec.8, saw limited practice time this week while undergoing back treatments.
LENGTH: Medium: 51 linesby CNB