THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, April 19, 1995 TAG: 9504190569
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LEE TOLLIVER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 53 lines
No Kellam boys soccer team had ever beaten Kempsville until Tuesday night.
With less than five minutes to play, Jason Bonnett took a throw in from Jeremy Swann on the right sideline and gave a one-touch pass to Ed Stockunas, who ended a 17-year losing streak to the Chiefs with a quick poke into the right side of the Kempsville goal for a 1-0 victory.
``Seventeen years, baby,'' several fans shouted from the stands.
Success has been a long time in coming for the sixth-ranked Knights (6-1-1, 2-0 Beach District). But with nearly the entire squad back following a strong finish last season, this year provided the best opportunity yet.
``This just shows we're not messing around any more,'' said Stockunas, who registered his 11th goal of the season. ``I saw (Bonnett) playing the ball to me and I just ran through it.''
Kellam was fortunate that the fourth-ranked Chiefs (2-4-1, 0-2) didn't tie the contest about a minute later, when Rodney Curtis crushed a point-blank shot at Knights keeper Jacob Etheridge.
``I'm going to have a ball mark right here,'' Etheridge said, pointing to his chest. ``But it was worth it.''
The senior keeper registered his sixth shutout of the young season because of five similar saves.
``Our entire defense played great tonight,'' Kellam coach Don Hart said. ``P.J. Burns was back there playing with two bad ankles and he was great in there also.''
Kellam had an early chance to go up on a penalty kick 13 minutes into the contest. Jeremy Lehr had broken past the defense and was tackled in the box by Kempsville's Sam Meekins. But Chiefs keeper Jeremiah Smith guessed right and batted Lehr's shot safely past the right post.
``Their keeper did a great job tonight,'' Etheridge said of Smith. ``He had the big PK save and a great save on a breakaway. We could have won this game, 3-0, 4-0, if he didn't have such a good game.''
Another Kellam chance came early in the second half, when Lehr took a nice pass up the middle from Dustin Keesee and let loose with a close-range blast that Smith took of the chest.
And Chris Phelan almost scored on a throw-in midway through the second half - tossing a forward flip throw from the right sideline right to the mouth of the goal.
``We had some good chances and didn't make them count,'' Bonnett said. ``I'm pretty disgusted with what I did with some of my opportunities. We could have put them away early.''
Instead, Kempsville kept itself in the game by outshooting the Knights, 19-11. Of the Chiefs' shots, six were quality chances at Etheridge. by CNB