ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, June 6, 1996 TAG: 9606060076
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
For those who advocate doing away with penalty kicks to decide boys' state soccer championships, look no further than William Byrd vs. Western Albemarle on Wednesday night.
For those who like high drama and great games, try the same. Western Albemarle defeated the Terriers 3-2 on penalty kicks in the third overtime for the Group AA title. While Western Albemarle was celebrating, neither team was claiming clear superiority.
Officially, this game ended when the Warriors' Jon Litkowski used a change-of-pace approach and slipped the ball past Byrd keeper Michael Creasey.
Don't blame Creasey for the loss. The game lasted as long as it did because Creasey stretched his frame for a great save in regulation, one of 15 he made to keep William Byrd (17-4-1) in contention.
After Litkowski's shot, Western Albemarle goalie Steve Caccese, who will play at Virginia Tech, blocked a shot by Ernie Hale that gave the Warriors their 21st victory against one loss and one tie.
``The kids laid their hearts out on the field,'' said Byrd coach Jeff Highfill, who experienced this same kind of defeat in an earlier-round playoff game against Christiansburg four years ago.
``Right now I'm not the guy to ask, but unless someone changes the rules or calls for co-champs after four overtimes, these are the rules,'' added the Byrd coach.
``It's a terrible way to end a soccer game,'' said Steve Smalley, Western Albemarle's coach. ``They can play until someone drops dead or they could declare co-champs, but that wouldn't mean anything either.''
Most of the dramatics came thanks to Byrd's Michael Berry, who shared the co-player of the year honors in Group AA with Western Albemarle's J.R. Hughes. With less than two minutes left in regulation, Berry flashed from nowhere to tie the score with his second goal.
``I was just playing on the side. I saw the ball slip through so I used my speed to get there,'' said Berry.
``I was sort of caught flat-footed and he stuck it past me. They [Byrd] played one heck of a game. To come back like that in the last two minutes,'' said goalie Steve Caccese.
Berry gave Byrd a 1-0 lead at the half as he got a pass from Hale, scooted the ball past a defender and raced in on the Warriors' goal to score with just under 16 minutes gone.
Western Albemarle took the momentum after that, continuing into the second half when Jeff Dolezai and Litkowski scored for a 2-1 lead.
``They were making runs, opening up spaces, our guys weren't covering and they pressured us for a lot of shots,'' said Creasey, who ran out of acrobatic saves in trying to preserve the lead.
Then Smalley received a yellow card and momentum seemed to slip away, preventing the Warriors from putting the Terriers out of the game.
LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ERIC BRADY/Staff. William Byrd goalkeeper Michaelby CNBCreasey fights his way through traffic in the box to collect a loose
ball Wednesday during the Terriers' Group AA soccer final against
Western Albemarle. color.