DATE: Wednesday, May 14, 1997               TAG: 9705140733

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C6   EDITION: FINAL 

                                            LENGTH:  135 lines

OSCAR SMITH GIRLS NIP NO. 2 HICKORY

It didn't take long for Jamie Burke to grasp the penalty kick concept.

In her first game to end in a shootout, Burke scored the first one for Oscar Smith and stopped the last four against Hickory as the No. 3 seeded Tigers upset the second-seeded Hawks 2-1 Tuesday at Oscar Smith in a Southeastern District semifinal match.

Burke, who never had been in such a situation in competition, was already in penalty kick frame of mind before the kickoff: She stopped 18 shots, mostly from short range, and in the second half and overtime.

``You don't really think about what you're doing,'' Burke said. ``You can just guess and hope you pick the right side.''

Which she did more often than not. After Hickory's Lindsey Vanderspiegel converted on the first kick, Burke shut the rest of the Hawks out to preserve the win.

Katie Kraemer followed Burke's conversion with another to give the Tigers all the margin they needed to advance to face Western Branch in the title game Thursday.

Oscar Smith took a 1-0 lead into halftime when Brooke Coley deflected Kraemer's shot into the net early in the first half.

Hickory tied the game midway through the second half as a Vanderspiegel shot got into the left corner.

- BRIAN J. FRENCH

Western Branch 2, Great Bridge 1

Western Branch used an aggressive attack and a virtually impenetrable midfield to upset top-seeded Great Bridge in overtime in a Southeastern semifinal at Great Bridge.

Western Branch (10-4-1) plays Oscar Smith Thursday at 5:30 for the second regional berth.

The Bruins snapped the Wildcats' three-year reign in the district. The Great Bridge seniors left the field in tears after their first district loss since their freshman season.

Western Branch controlled the overtime with saves by Jessica Bittner and potent attacks by Tory Kelso and Sarah Bush. At 1:42 of the first five-minute overtime period, Kelso sailed a corner kick into the box. It bounced off Sarah Bush and Caitie Meehan slid the rebound past keeper Anna Oliver.

``It just landed in my lap,'' Meehan said. ``I got coordinated really quickly.''

The Bruins shut down the attack of K.C. Miller and maintained offensive control formost of the showdown. Great Bridge, which has already received the No. 1 Southeastern District berth in the Eastern Region by going 8-0 in the regular season, struggled to get the ball past midfield and develop a full-fledged attack.

``We rose up and played about the best game we could,'' Western Branch coach Howard Measal said.

Thirteen minutes into the second half, Oliver raced out of the crease to challenge Sarah Therien. The two tripped and Kelso grabbed the loose ball and smashed a shot into the open net.

Great Bridge (12-2) tied the score with less than five minutes remaining in regulation when Miller dropped a pass to Valerie Rendin, who blasted a shot.

- REA McLEROY Eastern District

Churchland 2, Granby 1

You've heard of the wisdom of keeping your eye on the ball. But Churchland coach Biff Andrews suggests keeping your eye on the bucket. And that's exactly what Chinonye Eze did to score the game-winning goal that lifted the third-seeded Truckers past second-seeded Granby at Churchland.

The victory advances Churchland to next week's Group AAA Eastern Regional tournament.

During a practice drill, Andrews places buckets at four key spots in the goal to encourage his team to pick out corners rather than shoot at the keeper. Eze thought of that drill when she got the ball with the score tied.

``I just closed my eyes, looked at the bucket and kicked it as hard as I could,'' said Eze, greeted with cupcakes and high-fives as the final whistle sounded.

The sophomore striker's goal came in the final four minutes after the momentum had shifted to the Comets. Churchland (9-5-1) led 1-0 at the half, scoring off a corner kick that dribbled in off one of the Granby player's heels and was awarded to Kat Crandall.

But the Comets (8-7), sluggish in the first 40 minutes, regrouped for the second, tying it midway though the half when Henly Ervin broke free from three defenders and drove it over keeper Jina Gaines' head.

``When another team scores, it's so much stress,'' Eze said. ``Every single second left is like a countdown. But I think we just wanted it more.''

Maury 6, Norview 0

For the second time in as many days, the top-seeded Commodores shut out the fourth-seeded Pilots.

Fourth-ranked Maury (14-1), which had already qualified for regional play by winning the regular season, advanced to the league championship game against Churchland at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Churchland.

Boosted by three goals by Amy Mayer, Maury was never threatened. The senior forward, who leads the area in scoring, has tallied 27 goals this spring. Mayer said it wasn't hard preparing to play the Pilots again after just beating Norview 5-0 on Monday.

``We just try to go out strong every game,'' she said.

Leandre Bessell, Jessica Simmermon and Erica Cooper each had a goal for Maury. Norview played with an ailing Kim Fair, its top offensive threat, who was sidelined much of the game with the flu. The Pilots were outshot 17-1 and Norview keeper Jaclyn Krenek made eight saves.

- VICKI L. FRIEDMAN Beach District

Princess Anne 4, First Colonial 1

Down 1-0 and the first half rapidly drawing to a close, Cavaliers freshman midfielder Amy Caddies decided that enough was enough.

With less than a minute to play, she took a free kick from Dana Weaver, beat Patriots keeper Jamie Collins with a poke from the right post and stole the momentum.

Top-seeded Princess Anne (12-1-1) advances to Friday's final against the winner of tonight's Cox-Kempsville semifinal.

No. 4 First Colonial (6-5-3) had scored in the game's first four minutes when Avery Willis' indirect free kick glanced off teammate Kim Hopwood for a 1-0 lead.

But Caddies' tying shot turned the tide for the rest of the game.

Caddies gave her team the lead for good with 27:38 left to play when she took a corner kick from Sharon Hay and headed it low into the right corner. She completed the hat trick with 11 minutes remaining when she dribbled past the right-side defense and beat Collins from about 15 yards out.

With four minutes left, Liz Porter wrapped it up by beating two defenders on the dribble before launching a nice shot from the right side.

- LEE TOLLIVER

TCIS quarterfinals Norfolk Collegiate 2, Norfolk Christian 0: Meredith Miller scored twice in the second half as the Oaks upended the No. 9 Ambassadors. Collegiate will play Catholic in a semifinal Thursday at 4:30 p.m. at Norfolk Academy.

Norfolk Academy 2, Nansemond-Suffolk 0: Julia Salasky and Catherine Byrd tallied for the regular-season champion Bulldogs, who will host Hampton Roads, a 3-2 victor over Cape Henry, in a semifinal at Thursday at 3 p.m.

Catholic 2, Walsingham 0: Keeper Stephanie Kerr recorded eight save as the Crusaders outshot the Trojan 37-8. ILLUSTRATION: HUY NGUYEN/The Virginian-Pilot

Western Branch's Tori Kelso, left, battles Great Bridge's Kia Bell

during first half action. Kelso scored the first goal and set up the

overtime winner as the Bruins upset the No. 1 seed 2-1.

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