THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 26, 1994 TAG: 9410260583
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHRISTINE M. POINTS, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Short : 49 lines
Virginia Wesleyan's men's and women's soccer teams won their matches by identical scores of 6-0 Tuesday afternoon at Virginia Wesleyan to advance to Friday's Old Dominion Athletic Conference semifinals.
The regular-season champion Wesleyan men (17-0-1), ranked second in NCAA Division III, defeated Lynchburg, while the women (13-3), defeated Sweet Briar.
By defeating Lynchburg, the Marlin men earned the right to host the remainder of the conference tournament. Friday the men will play Roanoke, a 1-0 winner over Eastern Mennonite, at 3:30 p.m. The Lady Marlins will play the winner of the Washington & Lee-Guilford game on Friday at a site to be announced.
Mike Duffy's goal gave the Wesleyan men a 1-0 lead at the half. The Marlins exploded in the second half with Evan Whitson scoring two of the five goals.
Duffy added a second goal and Steve O'Mara and Larry Romaine rounded out the scoring.
``First, we did what we wanted,'' said head coach Sonny Travis. ``In the first half we played a lot of possession, in the second half we played more direct. We were able to counter more on them. Evan Whitson picked up his game a notch in this one.''
Whitson said that the Marlins came out fired up.
``We've got to stay fired up if we want to keep winning,'' the junior forward said. ``The national rankings have put a lot of pressure on us. We're marked because of our ranking, everyone's going to be out for us so they can advance.''
The Wesleyan women, who finished second in the regular season, broke a two-game losing streak in dominating fashion.
Four different players figured in the scoring. Brigitte Bradley and Marcie Blackbourn scored two goals apiece, and Mandy Nixon and Paige Kerry each scored one.
Wesleyan controlled the game, outshooting Sweet Briar (4-8-2), unofficially, 35-0. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by PAUL AIKEN, Staff
Virginia Wesleyan's Mike Duffy, left, heads the ball away from John
Gilbey of Lynchburg during the first round of the ODAC soccer
tournament.
by CNB