THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 19, 1996 TAG: 9605190202
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY VICKI L. FRIEDMAN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
The Kevin Sims and Angela Hucles eras at Norfolk Academy came to a conclusion Saturday afternoon in familiar style - with a victory and a hat trick. The Bulldogs trounced Norfolk Collegiate 5-0 to nab their 10th consecutive TCIS girls soccer crown at the Academy field
It was the last game for departing Bulldogs coach Sims, who plans to move to Chattanooga, Tenn., this summer, and for Hucles, who has worn a varsity uniform for Academy for the last five years. The senior NSCAA/Umbro and Parade All-American will play next year for the University of Virginia.
Afterward, Hucles said it didn't feel like the end, but she had an armload of reminders. ``It hasn't set in - maybe in a couple of hours or days,'' she said, carrying a lone rose given to each of the seniors and a pair of certificates: one for being named all-conference and another for being selected offensive MVP of the tournament.
``A parent came up to Mr. Sims earlier and said, `Sorry, this wasn't the greatest season for you.' But one of the good things about the season was we overcame adversity, losing players in the beginning to injuries,'' she said. ``And so everybody had to step up a level and work harder. So it made us better as a team.''
Sims leaves the school without knowing what it feels like to lose a game in his own conference. In his 13 years, the Bulldogs are 148-0-1 in the TCIS.
``Leaving is tough,'' said Sims, who got Gatorade-dunked by the Bulldogs shortly after they presented him with sweetheart roses. ``I've gotten joked about how my big scorer is leaving and I'm out of here, too. But it's not like that. It's real tough because I've grown real fond of some of the underclassmen and it'll be tough not being able to see them finish.''
The Bulldogs (15-8) used speed and aggression to wear down the Oaks (11-7-1), who returned to the final for the first time in three years. Hucles scored her first goal in the opening minutes off a perfect pass from Carrie Evans, her first of three assists. Norfolk Academy led 3-0 at the half after goals by Dominique Corneille and another by Hucles.
Academy outshot Collegiate 30-5 and had 12 corner kicks in the second half, with Clara Sims capitalizing on the final one. The heat and the smothering Bulldogs defense, led by tournament defensive MVP Katie Rowen, exhausted the Oaks, who upset 10th-ranked Norfolk Christian last week.
The Oaks' Christine Aulicino, a ninth-grader, spent most of the afternoon guarding Hucles, whose 204 career goals will put her in the all-time top 10 nationally among high school girls. ``She's the best player I've every played against,'' Aulicino said. ``It was really hard, the hardest thing I've ever done.'' by CNB