THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, April 22, 1995 TAG: 9504220446
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JULIE GOODRICH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
After failing to convert time and again in the first half, Hampton Roads got the assistance of a 12th man - the crossbar on the North Jersey goal - to score a 1-0 victory over the Imperials Friday night.
The Mariners improved to 2-0 in the United States International Soccer League. It was North Jersey's season opener.
Eight minutes into the second half, Hampton Roads had the ball deep in Imperials territory before a North Jersey defender knocked the ball through the end zone.
Joe Hermann took the corner kick, and the ball bent inwards toward the goal. North Jersey keeper Gary Gonzalez got a hand on it and deflected the ball over the net.
Instead of falling out of play, the ball bounced twice off the crossbar before falling right in front of Gonzalez.
Mark Waite pounced, drilling a shot into the net for his first goal of the season.
``Oh, we work on that in practice,'' Waite jokingly said of the odd circumstances surrounding his goal. After so many missed scoring chances in the first half, ``the guys would have shot me if I'd missed.''
The game began 30 minutes late because the Imperials had brought the wrong jerseys to the Mariners' home field at the Center for Effective Learning. But it appeared early on that it was the Mariners who had left something at home.
Hampton Roads had little trouble setting up scoring chances. The problem was finishing.
Forward Wayne Pratt routinely burned North Jersey with his speed, and James Wright was in excellent scoring position several times, but the majority of the Mariners' nine first-half shots either went wide or were deflected.
``It gets to you, but we were happy we were making those scoring chances,'' Waite said. ``We felt if we kept making them, we'd score.''
Hampton Roads had five shots in the second half and had a chance for an insurance goal with four minutes left, but Roger Goodbold's shot skidded wide of the far post.
If the offense is still a little shaky, the Mariners' defense is right where they want it.
Goalkeeper Garth Lagerwey, named the USISL defensive player of the week, notched his second straight shutout. He made seven saves, including a spectacular stop as Andy Williams charged in alone on goal. Lagerwey came out to challenge and took the ball right off Williams' foot. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by D. KEVIN ELLIOTT, Staff
The Mariners' James Wright, right, and New Jersey's Brent
Longenecker contend for ball.
by CNB