THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 30, 1994 TAG: 9406280150
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 18 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DENISE MICHAUX, COMPASS SPORTS EDITOR
DATELINE: 940630 LENGTH: Long
Youth.
{REST} Seven of the 12 players on the first team are freshmen or sophomores.
``In my 13 years of coaching soccer, I've never had a more dedicated group of ninth-graders,'' said newly retired coach of the year Harold Sigler, who had six of his Maury players named to the first team and six on the second team as well as the player of the year and newcomer of the year.
``It usually takes a while to get into a groove,'' Sigler said. ``But they worked hard and it just looks like this is a really focused group. They are going to go far.''
Freshman goalkeeper Colleen Maloney headed the list of youngsters with newcomer of the year honors. Granby's Christina Sarvis and Angela Tumminelli were the other freshmen named to the first team.
Forward Shawnte Snead, stopper Katie Roman and sweeper Mary Lee McLaughlin led Maury's sophomore contingent. Granby's sophomore goalie Natalie Weatherburn also earned a spot on the first.
One of the ``old women'' topping the list was player of the year Laura Smith, a senior mid-fielder from Maury. Teammate Lindsay Huffman, Booker T. Washington's Gina Barner and Alicia Fields and Lake Taylor's Laura Deanor rounded out the first team.
Although Smith is listed as a mid-fielder, one of her greatest strengths was the versatility she took to the field.
``She played wherever we needed help and did an excellent job,'' Sigler said. ``She is very consistent and you know that whenever she is out there she is giving 100 percent and she never has a bad game. We never put her in the goal, but she played everywhere else at one time or another.''
Smith also shared leadership duties with Huffman and Courtney Ankerson, who was named to the second team.
Sigler was reluctant to put pressure on his young goalie Maloney, but he said she has the potential to be named to the all-state team as a junior - a team usually comprised of seniors.
It was Maloney's good reflexes in goal that allowed the Commodores to hand Norfolk Academy its only loss of the season.
``That made the season,'' Sigler said. ``When you beat Norfolk Academy's girls soccer team, you have beaten a quality team. That was our proudest moment and a very big game for Colleen.''
Another young goalie, Weatherburn, a sophomore from Granby, was technically a freshman in the goal. Weatherburn had not played soccer since she was in elementary school until coach Joanie Murphy recruited her.
``She plays basketball and she has very good hands and good reflexes and she is a very quick study,'' said Murphy. ``She picks up on so many things on her own. She was always the first one out on the field and the last one to leave.''
Maury's Snead, last year's newcomer of the year, is the player everyone seems to be watching, including the competition.
``She is somebody people need to watch,'' said Granby's Murphy. ``Scouts and college coaches need to be looking at her even though she is just a junior next year.'' Murphy added that Booker T. Washington's Alicia Fields deserves some attention next season as she approaches graduation.
``Shawnte was the one who hated to lose the most,'' Sigler said. ``She detests losing.''
Snead's selection to the team is an even bigger acknowledgement of her talent because she moved from sweeper to forward this season without missing a beat. She scored 24 of Maury's total 62 goals.
Freshman mid-fielder Tumminelli led the Comets with 13 goals, including one hat trick during the season. Freshman sweeper Sarvis, who was named the most valuable player at Granby, is the one that Murphy trusts all over the field.
``Defensively she can beat anybody and she brings the ball up herself and really makes things happen,'' Murphy said.
While the number of talented young players out there obviously bodes well for the Eastern District, it also bodes well for the Norfolk summer travel league, which is trying to catch up to the strong travel leagues in Virginia Beach and Richmond.
Murphy had six of her players playing in the summer league last summer and she has 12 going this summer.
``As long as they are out there playing, they are going to improve,'' Murphy said. ``Only time youth is ever a hindrance is with a lack of experience, but they are getting that experience early now.''
by CNB