THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, April 20, 1995 TAG: 9504200612
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LEE TOLLIVER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
Tallwood's Danny McVey heard the rumors all winter that he wouldn't be eligible for soccer.
The stress of balancing select soccer with football, along with an admittedly weak academic background, may have been the basis for the talk.
Or maybe it was just wishful thinking on the part of Tallwood's opponents. McVey, a senior forward, leads South Hampton Roads with 15 goals.
``Playing football might have been a little too much, and I guess that helped get the rumors started,'' McVey said. ``All I know is that people were bringing it up to some of my teammates, and I really couldn't understand why. But evidently, plenty of people were talking about it.''
Once soccer season started, McVey changed the conversation.
Three weeks ago he broke the Beach District career record of 55 goals, set 12 years ago by his brother Chris. McVey, who has a pair of hat tricks this spring, is now at 60 and counting.
``I'm totally offensive-minded,'' he said. ``My first job is to score goals. And I have my brothers to thank for getting me started into playing forward. I've been playing there since I started playing soccer when I was 4.''
McVey's offense has had a ripple effect on the Lions, who are 7-1 and ranked No. 2 in the area.
``There might be better players all-around, but I haven't seen anybody better at scoring,'' Tallwood coach A.V. Bowman said. ``He is a pure attacking finisher. He's the best I've ever seen at the high school level. And our other kids are learning to feed off his abilities and the attention he draws.''
McVey scored two goals in a big, district-opening victory over Kempsville and added two more in Tuesday's win over Green Run.
Some of his goals - like the 35-yard blur for his second score against Kempsville - are the stuff highlight films are made of.
Athletes with McVey's leg strength don't come along very often, and that's why Tallwood football coach Ken Barto coveted McVey as a placekicker.
``I would have loved to have had him earlier,'' Barto said. ``But I really appreciate the job he did for us.''
McVey finished with 23 points, on 17 extra-point kicks and two field goals.
However, leaving football practice and zipping over to a Beach FC U-19 Premier soccer practice was tough.
But not as tough as dealing with all the rumors.
``I didn't work on school very much in the ninth, 10th or 11th grades,'' said McVey, who has a 2.2 grade-point average and scored 740 on his Scholastic Assessment Test. ``I'm doing better now, but it's kind of too late. But I've qualified (for college eligibility) and I'm out here.
Not so fast. There is still half the season to play, and Tallwood is in contention for its first district championship.
``This is a fun season so far,'' McVey said. ``Everybody is playing great.'' ILLUSTRATION: CHARLIE MEADS
Staff
All-time Beach District leading scorer Danny McVey heard plenty of
talk he'd be ineligible for soccer. Unfortunately for opponents, not
so.
by CNB