THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 30, 1996 TAG: 9606300233
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C13 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY REA FARMER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 35 lines
Hampton Roads keeper Matt Olson denied Richmond a shot at the James River Cup on Saturday night at First Colonial High School.
Olson shut out Richmond in a shootout, foiling all four Kickers he faced. The Mariners posted two shootout goals for a 2-1 Select League victory.
Olson came out to meet each Richmond kicker in the shootout, drawing cheers from the tense crowd of 2,374.
Richmond's Ben Crawley raced toward the goal, but Olson came out and deflected the shot. After the Mariners' Ryan Leiv's shot went wide, Olson took Steve Kinsey's shot on the shoulder.
Nate Houser faked Richmond keeper Phil Wellington and sailed his shot into the net. Olson then stopped Kevin Scott by kicking the ball off his foot.
The Mariners' Danny Creech chipped a shot over Wellington, and Olson tied up Neil Ryan, with the five-second shot clock expiring before Ryan could get a shot off.
``Olson was brilliant,'' Hampton Roads coach Shawn McDonald said. ``The kick he saved with the foot. . . . He was the man.''
The Mariners were presented the inaugural James River Cup following the game. The cup is awarded to the best-of-three winner between the two Select League rivals. Hampton Roads defeated Richmond 3-2 in a shootout 10 days ago.
Dave Shifirin scored his first goal of the season to give the Mariners (10-2, 6-1) the early lead, netting the rebound after Wellington deflected a shot by Paul Cann.
Richmond (7-7, 4-6) evened the score 11:28 into the second half on Tim Hardy's 20-footer.
Both teams attacked strongly throughout the second half, but Olson and Wellington held the tide.
The Mariners host Roanoke at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. by CNB