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

DATE: Wednesday, May 10, 1995                TAG: 9505100607
SECTION: SPORTS                   PAGE: C5   EDITION: FINAL  
SOURCE: BY PATTI WALSH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                     LENGTH: Medium:   63 lines

CORRECTION/CLARIFICATION: ***************************************************************** Janet Rowlands is the girls soccer coach at First Colonial. She was misidentified in a story Wednesday. The Cox player in Wednesday's girls soccer photo was Katie McDonald. First Colonial's Allison Birkhead was the girl on the light jersey on the right. They were misidentified in Wednesday's papers. Correction published , Thursday, May 11, 1995, p.C8 ***************************************************************** NO. 2 COX HOLDS OFF F. COLONIAL, 3-2 TIME WAS ON FALCONS' SIDE IN A GIRLS SOCCER SHOWDOWN.

First Colonial's biggest foe in Tuesday's Beach District girls soccer showdown with No. 2 Cox wasn't its opponent but the clock.

Down a goal late in the second half, the fourth-ranked Patriots (8-4-0, 6-2-0) pounded 20 shots at Falcons keeper Laura McFerrin, who held her ground until time expired for a 3-2 Cox victory.

``We dominated the whole game,'' said First Colonial's Lisa Neely, who scored the game's first goal. ``We wanted it with all of our hearts. They just got lucky with their shots and we didn't.''

Neely tapped in a cross from Avery Willis with her knee at the 22:14 mark to open the scoring.

Thirteen seconds later, Cox's Kirsty Hale fired back with a quick kick that got the best of Patriots keeper Katie Bolcar.

``I don't think they were expecting the rush,'' Hale said.

The Falcons (11-2-2, 8-0-0), who finished with a 30-27 shooting advantage, managed 17 more shots before the end of the half but didn't connect until the final 1:35, when Hale beat a charging Bolcar to the ball and tapped it in.

Cara Reske netted Cox's final goal 3:17 into the second half with a floating shot that sailed into the right corner of the net just out of Bolcar's reach.

But then the momentum shifted.

Sarah Hirst made it 3-2 at the 22:26 mark with a high shot from 19 yards out that slipped just under the cross bar.

``We were down on our defensive end most of the second half,'' Hale said. ``We were working really hard to keep the ball out of the goal.

``You know, up 3-1 in the second half, you think, `They won't come back.' But they did, and that's the mark of a great team.''

Said Cox coach Janet Rowlands: ``I'm not trying to be a sore loser, but we outplayed them. I'm satisfied with that. We went this route last year and we came back and beat them when it counted (in the Beach District tournament).'' ILLUSTRATION: CHRISTOPHER REDDICK

Staff

Cox's Cara Reske, in dark jersey, and First Colonial's Candice Berle

vie for possession.

by CNB