THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, April 27, 1996 TAG: 9604270505
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JAMES C. BLACK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
Nate Friends knows how to score and how to win.
This summer, those traits could help earn the United States its first Olympic soccer medal in 92 years.
``Nate has a history of being part of a program at U.Va. that knew how to win soccer games,'' Glenn Myernick, acting coach of the U.S. Under-23 National team, said on Friday.
``Winning is something that's a habit to develop and he had a chance to do it in a highly successful program.''
The Hampton Roads Mariners host Friends and his U.S. teammates in an exhibition game at 7:30 tonight at First Colonial High School.
Friends, a former Mariner, was more than just a member of Cavalier teams that won an unprecedented four consecutive men's Division I titles from 1991-94. He was ``Mr. Clutch.''
The 22-year-old forward set a school record with 15 goals and five assists in postseason play.
He holds the ACC tournament record with 17 career points and he scored the game-winning goals in the 1992 and 1993 NCAA championship games.
Friends is sixth in career goals (36) and points (88) at U.Va.
His career highlight was scoring five goals in the 1993 NCAA Final Four against Princeton and South Carolina.
Now, he hopes to bring attention to a sport that is overshadowed in this country.
The U.S. has medaled twice in Olympic soccer competition, capturing silver and bronze medals in 1904.
``Overseas, soccer is not perceived as an American sport,'' Friends said. ``Every soccer player's job in America is to show that we can play soccer.''
He did his part last year, scoring both goals in a 2-1 World University Games win over Japan.
The objective for Hampton Roads tonight is keeping the ball away from the 6-foot-2 forward.
Mariners coach Shawn MacDonald is aware that this will be no easy task.
``He definitely brings something different that no other player has on that team: he's a tremendous athlete,'' said MacDonald, Hampton Roads general manager during Friends eight-game stint with the Mariners last summer.
``He's tremendous in the air. He's probably one of those guys that you always look to go . . . in the air because he's really dominating.''
MacDonald is hoping forwards Michael Guerrero and Stilian Shishkov can keep contain Friends.
As a Mariner, Friends was opposing several U.Va. teammates when Hampton Roads beat the U.S. team 2-0 last year.
``It's kind of the same situation but with different teams,'' Friends said.
In the fall, Friends will find himself in a totally different situation - law school.
Though he has not made a decision on where to study, he has been accepted by Wisconsin and Michigan.
Maybe he'll attend the school with the best soccer program. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by MIKE HEFFNER, The Virginian-Pilot
Nate Friends, ``Mr. Clutch'' on U.Va.'s four NCAA title teams, tunes
up Friday for tonight's game against his old Hampton Roads Mariners
mates.
by CNB