THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 1, 1994 TAG: 9409010697
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LEE TOLLIVER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 40 lines
William and Mary soccer coach Al Albert is hoping to take his Tribe team to new levels this season - using a continuing flow of Northern Virginia and Virginia Beach talent to beef up his player ranks.
Ranked 19th in the Soccer America preseason poll, William and Mary (12-5-3 overall, 3-2-2 in the Colonial Athletic Association last year) features 15 Northern Virginia and seven Beach players on its roster. The two areas have long been Virginia's high school soccer power centers.
Most notable of the newcomers is Wade Barrett of First Colonial, a Parade All-American and member of the Under-20 national team. Barrett, who missed half his senior year due to mononucleosis, spent the summer globe-trotting with the national squad, scoring seven goals.
Returning sophomore Steve Jolley of Kempsville High was last season's leading scorer as a freshman with 25 points, the third-highest freshman point total in William and Mary history.
Billy Owens, a junior from Virginia Beach, is the veteran Beach member of the team and is hoping to make a big comeback after a sophomore season slowed by an injured toe. Even so, Owens was named a Soccer News sophomore All-American. He is tied for seventh on the Tribe all-time assist list and is six points away from cracking the top 10 list.
Other Beach players are Brian Reshefsky (Norfolk Academy), Greg Richards (First Colonial), Josh Quinter (Cox) and Dan Zickefoose (Kempsville).
A weakness for the Tribe is size and aggressiveness.
``We're not very big by Division I standards,'' Albert said. ``But we've got good speed and lots of talent. If we can be a little more feisty out there, we can compete with anybody. The (national champion) Virginia players told our guys last year that nobody played them tougher than we did.'' by CNB