THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 29, 1996 TAG: 9608290625
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY REA FARMER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 33 lines
The Hampton Roads Mariners playoff route became a bit bumpier Wednesday night with Long Island's 1-0 Select Six Group B victory over the Minnesota Thunder at Old Dominion.
With the win, the Rough Riders earned three points in the round-robin tournament. The Thunder (19-11) closed the elimination segment with four points. Now, everything is up to Long Island and the Mariners tonight.
They meet at 7:30 at ODU's Soccer Stadium in the final game of the group. The top two teams in the bracket advance to this weekend's semifinal round in Richmond.
If the Mariners win in regulation or overtime, they will advance. If the game goes into a shootout, Long Island will advance on total points. A regulation or overtime win is worth three points, a shootout win is worth two and a shootout loss is worth one.
If the Mariners win in regulation or overtime, Hampton Roads and Long Island will be tied in points. The third tiebreaker, head-to-head points, will send the Mariners into the semifinals.
Complicating the issue is the bonus point awarded for a team scoring three or more goals. If both the Mariners and Long Island score more than three goals tonight, and the Mariners win in regulation or overtime, there will be a three-way tie in the bracket. Each team will have four points.
The third tiebreaker of head-to-head points would eliminate the Thunder due to Wednesday night's loss to Long Island.
Thus, entering tonight's game, no team in Group B has clinched a semifinal berth. In Group A, Richmond and California haved advanced. They play tonight to determine the top seed. by CNB