THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 3, 1994 TAG: 9406030939
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBIN BRINKLEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940603 LENGTH: Medium
A Beach District team has played for a state championship in each of the past four years, winning boys titles in 1988, 1989 and 1990.
{REST} First Colonial, 13-5-1 and the 1993 runner-up, meets Northwest Region champion Woodbridge (18-1-1) at 3 p.m. Robinson (17-0-2) plays Midlothian (19-1) in the other girls semifinal at 1 p.m.
The winners play for the championship Saturday at 2 p.m.
Cox (15-2-2) plays Central Region champion Manchester (15-1-3) in the first boys semifinal at 6 p.m. Defending state champion Hylton (19-1-2) meets Eastern Region champion Lafayette (17-1-2) at 8 p.m.
First Colonial is coming off a 1-0 victory over Thomas Jefferson-Alexandria in the quarterfinals.
The Patriots will face a hostile crowd against Woodbridge, which will be playing in its backyard.
``The home field is really nice,'' First Colonial coach Janet Rowlands said. ``But my biggest concern is that we're going up there blind.''
A scouting report on the Vikings would reveal that they won the state championship in 1988 and placed second in 1984, 1989 and 1991.
This year's team is defense oriented. Freshman keeper Terri Greer has posted 15 shutouts and senior sweeper Rebecca Lisack was named to the Washington Post's All-Met team.
Kim Newell, another freshman, leads the team in scoring with 15 goals and 10 assists.
First Colonial has been shut out only three times and its big three of Stephanie Smith, Amy Rosenbaum and Catherine deGruy figure to test Woodbridge's defense.
Smith leads the team in scoring with 17 goals and 14 assists; Rosenbaum is second with 16 goals and eight assists and deGruy has 14 goals and eight assists.
Cox coach Jim Snodgrass would rather open with Manchester than either one of the other two semifinalists. But that's not out of disrespect to the Lancers.
The Falcons' lost to Hylton, 4-0, in March and fell to Lafayette, 4-2, in the region final.
Cox rebounded to beat Northern Region champion South Lakes, 2-1, in the state quarterfinals.
``If we can beat the Northern Region champion, we can beat the Central Region champion,'' Snodgrass said. ``But Manchester beat Woodbridge to get to the final four and that means they are stronger than the usual Central Region champion.''
Cox received a boost Wednesday when midfielder Josh Haggerty was cleared to play. He had torn the ACL ligament in his left knee three weeks ago and will undergo reconstructive surgery after the season.
``That would be a lift if he can play,'' Snodgrass said.
Snodgrass plans to use leading scorer Matt Whalen in the midfield again. Whalen began the season at sweeper and moved to forward at midseason. He was switched to midfield this week and scored both goals against South Lakes.
This is Manchester's first appearance in the semifinals.
``We've definitely got a lot of respect for Cox and we'll go into the game feeling they've got to be the favorites,'' Manchester coach Ted Jones said.
The game features contrasting styles. The Lancers play a short passing game that emphasizes strong midfield play while Cox takes a more direct approach.
Deryck Shockley, a junior midfielder, is Manchester's best player. He played for the U.S. Under-17 World Cup team in Tokyo last year. by CNB