
DATE: Wednesday, November 19, 1997          TAG: 9711190741

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY LEE TOLLIVER, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   68 lines

COX'S 11TH FIELD HOCKEY STATE TITLE TIES NATIONAL MARK

The Cox High School field hockey team, out to prove it is the premier program in the country, tied a national high school record Tuesday for the most state titles.

With a 1-0 victory over Lake Braddock Tuesday afternoon on its home field, Cox took back a title it had held for seven years before losing to Kempsville in last year's championship game. And in doing so, the Falcons captured a record-tying 11th state title. Moorestown (N.J.) High School won 11 state titles from 1976-1995.

``Every one is special because it's the one you just won,'' said Cox coach Nancy Fowlkes. ``But this one is especially so because we were so young and inexperienced, and nobody really thought they could.

``And because we got our title back.''

Cox (20-2) returned only three starters from last year's team, and didn't really come together as a typical Falcons squad until the Beach District tournament championship two weeks ago.

``I feel like we played our best, especially in the second half,'' Fowlkes said. ``Lake Braddock played great, their keeper was great, but our two captains took it in their own hands and won it.''

Taylor Rountree scored the winner on a beautifully executed penalty corner play with 14:09 left in the game. Caroline Weirich sent in the starting pass to Rountree, who controlled and dished to Katie Kubic before charging the goal. Kubic returned the pass perfectly to Rountree on the dead run, and Rountree easily beat Bruins keeper Susie Dunham to the far right corner.

``It was just beautiful, just clockwork,'' Kubic said.

It was a penalty corner play the two worked out for the first time earlier in the day, and practiced only in a 2-0 semifinal victory over Thomas Dale earlier in the morning.

``We had changed our corner in the circle and we decided to use it right before that corner,'' Rountree said. ``They had been marking us really good and we figured the best way to beat their fliers was to charge past them instead of setting up and shooting.

``As soon as I saw Katie sending the ball back to me, I knew I was putting it in.''

The play highlighted a second half in which the Falcons picked up the pace of the game.

``We realized at halftime that there were only 30 minutes left and this was it,'' Rountree said.

Lake Braddock (20-1-1) suffered its first loss of the season, but had controlled much of the first half play. The Bruins - the only non-Beach team to make a state final since 1990, losing to Cox in 1991 and 1995 - opened the second half with three great opportunities on a pair of penalty corner plays, but failed to get off a shot.

Cox then got its best chance, when Rountree found a loose ball in front of the Bruins cage and set a shot just barely wide of the right post.

Lake Braddock advanced with a 3-1 semifinal victory over Kellam. ILLUSTRATION: HUY NGUYEN/The Virginian-Pilot

Caroline Weirich of Cox, left, fires a shot that is stopped by Lake

Braddock goalkeeper Susie Dunham during Tuesday's field hockey state

championship game. Cox won 1-0 on Taylor Rountree's goal.

[Color Photo ran on page C1]

STATE CHAMPIONS...AGAIN

HUY NGUYEN/The Virginian-Pilot

Katie Kubic, right, and Katie Carroll celebrate Cox's 1-0 field

hockey victory over Lake Braddock for the Falcons' 11th state

championship, tying a national record. Kubic assisted on Taylor

Rountree's winning goal. ``Every one (state title) is special