THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 30, 1996 TAG: 9608300732
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C01 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY REA FARMER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 58 lines
The Hampton Roads Mariners were eliminated from the Select Six soccer playoffs Thursday night with a 3-2 loss to Long Island at Old Dominion University.
Long Island's Carlos Ledesma scored with 11 seconds remaining to seal the Rough Riders' victory. The stunned Mariners had no time to mount a counterattack as their 2,672 fans sat silent.
``It was a very hard-fought game,'' Rough Riders coach Alfonso Mondelo said. ``I give credit to the Mariners, they stretched us out. Probably the only way we were going to win was for them to go down with no time left.''
Long Island (19-7) and Minnesota (19-11) advanced from the Group B bracket. Minnesota plays California Saturday at 5 p.m. and Long Island plays Richmond at 7:30 in the semifinals at the University of Richmond Stadium.
The Mariners ended the season at 20-9.
Rough Rider Jim Rooney scored on a free kick at 15:34 of the half after Mariners goalkeeper Matt Olson grabbed a shot, but stepped out of the box holding the ball.
``I think we let them in with the first goal, let them have the advantage,'' Olson said. ``We kept battling back. I'm just disappointed. You can think of so many ways to stall the clock (11) seconds, but it just didn't happen.''
Stilian Shishkov, starting for the first time since the third game of the season, led the Mariners' attack. Just 51 seconds into the second half, Sterling Wescott crossed to Shishkov who punched in the tying shot.
``It was a great comeback,'' Mariners coach Shawn McDonald said. ``I'm proud of the way we fight back, we've done that a lot. I'm not crazy about the two free-kick goals. We scored two and that's not bad for us.''
At 38:10, Long Island retook the lead as Kevin Anderson chipped a free kick to Rooney who netted the 34-yard shot. Dustin Swinehart, who had entered the game moments earlier, tied the score again two minutes later. The game appeared headed to overtime when Ledesma posted the winning shot.
``We knew they had to get the win and we were ready for that,'' Long Island keeper Paul Grafer said. ``We knew we would advance if we could just get a positive or neutral score. They really pressured us. It turned into a counter-attacking battle at the end.''
NOTE: McDonald and Richmond coach Dennis Viollet on Thursday were fined an undisclosed amount by the USISL for commenting on league officials in Monday's Richmond Times-Dispatch. ILLUSTRATION: MIKE HEFFNER
The Virginian-Pilot
Color
Hampton Roads Mariners forward Stilian Shishkov, right, whose goal
knotted the score at 1-1 just 51 seconds into the second half,
battles Long Island defender Laurence Piturro during upfield drive.
Stilian Shishkov, right, of the Mariners keeps the ball - if not his
feet - in a collision with Long Island's Laurence Piturro. by CNB