THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 20, 1994 TAG: 9410200531
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JULIE GOODRICH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
Going on the theory that less is more, the Old Dominion men's soccer team came out against William and Mary with a lineup that included just one forward. After a 5-0 blowout at James Madison, head coach Ralph Perez stacked the midfield in hopes of creating more scoring opportunities.
It worked, but only for the first half.
Trailing 1-0, William and Mary tossed a conservative game plan. The switch paid off, as the Tribe scored a 3-1 victory over the Monarchs before 1,681 at the Old Dominion Soccer Stadium.
``In the first half, we weren't pushing forward because we didn't want to expose ourselves to the counterattack,'' said William and Mary coach Al Albert. ``Then they went ahead with the goal, and it was obvious we had to change our strategy.''
The Monarchs (7-6-1, 3-3 in the Colonial Athletic Association) took the lead on the ninth-ranked Tribe with 15:41 left in the first half. Raul Ovalle dribbled into the box and maneuvered past two defenders, taking them out of the play.
Ovalle played the ball in the air to Byron Mitchell on the left post. Mitchell, out of Cape Henry Collegiate, beat goalie Paul Grafer with a header.
Behind for only the second time this season, William and Mary (14-1, 6-0) abandoned the strategy of reacting. Instead, the Tribe went back to what it does best - attacking the goal.
It paid off.
An obstruction foul on Old Dominion's Emilio Romero gave the Tribe a free kick from 30 yards out on the right side. Andrew Petty drilled the ball toward the left post, with Kempsville's Steve Jolley the first to get a head on it.
In a set play, Jolley flipped the ball toward the center of the goal, where midfielder Greg Richards, a First Colonial graduate, headed the ball past keeper Nathan Olansen for his fourth goal of the season and a 1-1 tie with 35:05 left.
William and Mary's forwards, silent for most of the game, finally got down to business. Waughn Hughes took a pass from Jolley at midfield and sent the ball out in front of the goal, where First Colonial's Wade Barrett fired it into the back of the net for the go-ahead score.
``I made eye contact with Jolley, and he played a perfect ball to me,'' Hughes said. ``I ran it down in the right corner but it was too deep to shoot
The Monarchs then went back to a two-forward set and pulled defender Jamie Reed. According to Perez, ODU ``paid for it dearly.''
Billy Owens sent a tap pass toward Hughes, who split the defense and charged in alone.
Olansen came out to challenge, but went outside the box. Because using his hands would result in a red card and automatic ejection, Olansen could only use his feet. Hughes put on a nifty move and ran past Olansen, shooting into the empty net for his team-leading 15th goal.
``I'm proud that our guys came back,'' Albert said. The only other time the Tribe trailed an opponent was in a 2-1 loss to Duke. ``Every team has to know that they can come back and win.'' ILLUSTRATION: L. TODD SPENCER
Old Dominion's Tom Manning, left, jockeys for position against
William and Mary's Billy Owens.
by CNB