THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 14, 1996 TAG: 9601140298
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
The Hampton Roads Admirals have long worried about when their spate of personnel losses on defense would come back to haunt them. It happened at what for them was the worst time possible, Saturday night against archrival and first-place Richmond.
Playing without Aaron Downey (suspended) and Sergei Voronov (injured) and working in John Van Kessel (no practices with the team), Rich Bronilla (one practice) and Chris Phelps (one game since Dec. 16), the Admirals fell apart in front of goalies Mark Bernard and Todd Hunter and were whipped 7-1.
``One of those games,'' Admirals coach John Brophy said, shrugging at seeing his team's five-game winning streak end. ``It's too bad it had to happen here. But we're running up here with players who aren't in shape, who haven't been here. We're not going to hang our heads.''
It was supposed to be a knock-down, drag-out war between the first-place Renegades and the second-place Admirals, who entered the game just six points behind the defending Riley Cup champions. There was plenty of knocking and dragging - 186 total penalty minutes, most ever between these bitter rivals - but not much competition.
Richmond opened a 4-0 lead after one period and scored the final three goals after the Admirals Rod Taylor tallied to start the second period.
An overflow crowd of 11,500, including several hundred Admirals boosters, watched - the largest ever to see the Admirals. Renegade management announced that they had turned away 2,500 ticket-seekers at the door.
``They don't draw peanuts, except when we're here,'' Brophy said. ``That's OK. We'll continue to come up here and fill their building for them.''
Bernard, so sharp Friday in shutting out Wheeling, allowed four goals in the 17 shots he faced and was replaced by Todd Hunter after one period.
``Not the goalies' fault,'' Brophy said. ``Without them, we'd have had real problems.''
His frustration boiled over seconds after a shot by Richmond's Mike Taylor slipped by him at the same time the buzzer sounded ending the first period. Bernard argued furiously that the goal shouldn't be allowed, but when it was he drew a 10-minute misconduct for firing his stick against the boards on his way to the locker room.
``Icing on the cake,'' Richmond coach Roy Sommer called the goal. ``It's hard to come back against a pretty good defensive team when you're four goals down.''
Conversely, Richmond goalie Aaron Israel, acquired in a trade with Johnstown Saturday morning, started in what coach Roy Sommer figured would be a telling test against the South Division's second-place team.
Israel was shaky early, but gained his legs as the game wore on and turned in a creditable performance, stopping 15 shots.
NOTE: Defenseman Aaron Downey served a one-game suspension Saturday night against Richmond. Downey was handed a match penalty Friday against Wheeling when he was caught with a Band-Aid, considered a foreign substance, on his hand. Downey will be available for Monday afternoon's game at Charlotte. by CNB