THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, April 17, 1996 TAG: 9604170540
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LEE TOLLIVER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
With a seeming wealth of defensive material, Kempsville boys soccer coach Kevin Denson needed only to find a little offensive punch to make this year's squad a playoff contender.
So he moved sweeper Kevin Knott out of the defensive scheme and onto the forward line.
Knott starred on defense for the Chiefs last season, and was a member of last year's U-17 national team as a defender.
But in tryouts for this year's U-18 national pool, he was asked to play in the outside midfielder's role.
So he's getting used to change.
``I think I did pretty well (at U-18 tryouts), but they haven't announced the team yet,'' Knott said. ``But switching to the offense was hard at first.''
Knott is being humble. In five games, he scored eight goals and has one assist in leading the Chiefs to a 4-0-1 record and the area's No. 1 position in the coaches poll heading into Tuesday's game with Green Run.
In a 7-0 trouncing of Western Branch last week, Knott scored the first hat trick of his career and followed with an assist in Kempsville's 3-0 Beach District opener victory against Tallwood.
Those efforts earned him The Virginian-Pilot's male Athlete of the Week award.
Knott is enjoying his success at the new position, as are his coach and teammates.
``There isn't as much pressure and I think I'm playing better,'' he said. ``You get a lot more credit when you do well and you don't take as much heat when you don't.
``At sweeper, if you mess up, there's nobody behind you to help stop the other team from getting at the keeper. Up front, I have a whole team behind me.''
Denson was confident from the start, placing great faith that other defenders would be up to the task.
``We have several people who can play back,'' the coach said. ``But we didn't have a better left winger to bring up. He adds a different dimension to our game. It's a totally different perspective for him, but he's made the move easier than you'd think.''
Knott will find out just how good he is in the next three games, as his Chiefs get into the thick of the Beach schedule with a Friday game against Salem before next Tuesday's big match against Cox. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
by CNB