THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Saturday, April 1, 1995                TAG: 9504010399
SECTION: SPORTS                   PAGE: C7   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY LEE TOLLIVER, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                     LENGTH: Short :   46 lines

KEMPSVILLE HOLDS ITS OWN IN 1-0 SOCCER LOSS TO HYLTON

Kempsville's 1-0 loss to Hylton in the Kickoff Classic Friday was a victory of sorts, for several reasons.

Kempsville lost eight players from last year's Eastern Region playoff team and the Chiefs were facing the two-time defending state champion Bulldogs.

And Kempsville was in the game the entire 80 minutes.

``We're just pleased to be playing at this level this early in the season,'' Kempsville coach Kevin Denson said. ``With so many young kids, we're dealing with confidence problems and I think the way we played will help.''

After a scoreless first half, Kempsville (2-1) dominated play in the second and got its best chance of the game after moving sophomore defender Kevin Knott to the midfield. About five minutes after the change, Knott served up a nice pass to Rodney Curtis, whose blast ricocheted off the crossbar.

At that point, Hylton (3-0) held a 5-1 edge on shots as both teams had some problems getting chances.

Curtis' shot woke up Hylton. The Bulldogs got their best chance a few minutes later when Aaron Brunner fed a crossing pass to Grover Gibson who poked a point-blank shot at Kempsville keeper Jeremiah Smith - who made his fourth save of the game.

But the play set the tone for Hylton's score minutes later when Tommy Adams sent a crossing pass from the left to Nick Sburatura, who was streaking towards the left goal post. The foreign exchange student from Finland took the pass and booted a slow lob shot over a charging Smith.

``When I got the ball, I saw him coming out and tried the shot immediately,'' said Sburatura. ``I felt sure that I had him beat.''

In other games:

Manchester 3, Salem 2 OT: The sixth-ranked Sun Devils (2-1) held a 2-1 lead with just under three minutes to play when David Martin tied the contest. Near the end of the first overtime, Drew Lindsey gave the Lancers (1-0) the victory on a header. It was his second goal of the game. Kevin Miller and Josh Morgan scored for Salem.

Cox 3, Robinson 1: Matt Whalen, Ben Kjome and Nathan Vrooman scored a goal each for the top-ranked Falcons (3-0). by CNB