Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • Page 127

Chicago Tribune. Sunday. October 25 1998 Section 3 21 SOCCER PREPS PLUS HIGHLIGHTS MLS final Mends as pits coaches Sandburg's setter takes test; meanwhile, team scores A she hoped LeLonde would be back for next week's regionals. The Lions were led by Diane Radzajew-ski's 14 kills and Potts' 12 kills. "It was sort of even they didn't have their setter and we didn't have our outside hitter," Pyritz said.

"I don't know which is better or which is worse." Reid Hartley GCAC Tournament: Robyn Guokas had nine kills and seven blocks as No. 2 Mother McAuley swept Resurrection 15-4, 15-10 in the semifinals. Katie Brasher and Nicole Blazina added nine assists apiece for the Mighty Macs (30-4), who advance to Sunday's title game against No. 3 Queen of Peace, which upended St. Ignatius 15-3, 15-7 in the omer semifinal.

Lake Park Invitational: Ann Lopata's 13 kills and nine blocks helped No. 6 Glenbard South edge Naperville North 154, 13-15, 15-5 for the championship. Meghan Bark-man added 11 kills and seven blocks for the Raiders (32-2-1), who captured the Lake Park championship for the second time in the tournament's 18 years, and the first time since 1988. Katie Butts led Naperville (23-9-3) with 10 kills. LlbertyvllleMundeleln Invitational; Mundelein upended Stevenson 15-6, 4-15, 15-10 to claim the championship after edging Liber-tyville 2-15, 15-13, 15-13 in the semifinals.

With the victories, Mundelein (19-11) avenged regular season losses to both teams. The Mustangs were led by Heather Hynds, who compiled 36 kills, 16 blocks, 25 digs and nine aces for the tournament and Lauren Bier-wirth, who had 20 kills, 24 digs and eight aces. Class AA boys soccer Crystal Lake South sectional: Tim May scored twice and J.C. Landgraf and Gabino Hernandez Steinbach made six saves for Bartlett. Larkin downed Hoffman Estates 2-0 on goals by Eric Smen-towski and Ryan McKenna.

Glenbrook South sectional: Drew Gazis had a goal and an assist as Niles West shut out Niles North 3-0. The Indians (8-10-4) also got goals from Drasmin Pierre Louis and Bruno Rasich, with a team-high 19 goals this season. The Indians next face Evanston, whom they tied earlier in the year, on Tuesday. Niles North finishes at 4-9-6. St.

Patrick downed Notre Dame 2-1 on penalty kicks as goaltender Jason Guerra stopped the only penaty shot he faced. Joliet sectional: Chris Lowy scored the game-winning goal with 11:32 remaining as Oswego (7-11-3) knocked off Plainfield 2-1. Mundelein sectional: Jeff Murray scored a hat trick as Mundelein (12-9-1) shut out Zion-Benton 4-0. Class A boys soccer Fenwick sectional: Paul Otachel's two goals and Mike Winiarczyk's goal and four assists helped Elmwood Park roll past St. Gregory 8-2.

Geneva sectional: Aaron Par-ness scored the game-winning goal with 2:22 left in the second overtime as IMSA knocked off Driscoll 2-1. Andrew Stout scored the first goal for IMSA (4-12-3) which advances to play Geneva on Tuesday. Hinckley-Big Rock sectional: Dain Dwait scored four goals and Korey Kromm added two as Serena routed Somonauk 10-0. Dave Vatland recorded his seventh shutout of the season for the Huskers (14-6-2), who will face Malta on Tuesday. Rich South sectional: Six different players scored for Joliet Catholic (5-15-1) as it cruised past Luther East 6-0.

Dave Renwick recorded his third shutout for the Hilltoppers (5-15-1), who will face Illiana Christian on Tuesday. Jonathan Schoenberg and Tammy Swanson contributed to this report. By Bonnie DeSimone Tribune Staff Writer LOS ANGELES Their banter is a bit like their off-day tennis matches. Neither one gives any ground. Over the course of a 20-year association, that makes for a lot of long rallies.

D.C. United coach Bruce Arena, with two MLS and five NCAA titles, may have a more crowded trophy case. But Bradley, who has coached the Fire to the Major League Soccer championship game in the franchise's first year, isn't conceding a thing in this game, either. Sunday's encounter at the Rose Bowl will mark the first time Arena and Bradley have gone at each other with a title on the line. Bradley, formerly the Princeton University head coach, was Arena's assistant at the University of Virginia (1982-83) and D.C.

United (1996-97) as well as with the 1996 men's Olympic team. Friday, the two traded obviously affectionate barbs. "Bruce has always been very gracious in his public comments $bout me," Bradley told a gathering of reporters and MLS officials. When Princeton played Virginia In 1993 in the NCAA semifinals, he was very big on me being poach of the Year. "What he really meant was, 'Our team is better, we're going to kick your butt, but Bob's a nice guy, so we want him to have something to take Our friendship survived that day.

But sometime, I want to see if he can handle when my team wins." From his position on the dais, Arena grabbed the nearest microphone. "I just want to say that I'm very happy Bob got Coach of the Year this season," he said, breaking up the room. Arena, 47, who grew up on Long Island, and Bradley, 40, a New Jersey native, met in 1982 when a mutual friend persuaded Arena to hire the younger man sight unseen as a graduate assistant. "It wasn't a long negotiation," Arena joked. "He didn't get rich from that experience." The two meshed quickly, being equally blunt, feisty and extraordinarily serious about their sport.

They also developed an off-field INSIDE MLS CUP '98 Fire vs. D.C. Ui.rted TVRADIO 2:30 p.m. at Rose Bowl, Pasadena, WLS-Ch. WRZA-FM 99.9 (Spanish), WKTA-AM 1330 (Polish); WZCH-FM 103.9 fc- PLAYER TO WATCH Marco Etcheverry.

The league's most valuable player has what Fire coach Bob Bradley calls "a magical left foot." Etcheverry led the league with 19 assists and can make passes normal players wouldn't think of trying. Chris Armas will have the task of slowing down "El Diablo." QUICK LOOK D.C. United is looking for its third straight MLS championship and is loaded at every position. The Fire can't afford to fall behind early and chase the game. If Roman Kosecki is able to play his normal game and is not hampered by a strained hamstring, the Fire's offense will get a big boost.

other what more can you ask?" Harkes said. "And they tried to keep it down to three arguments a day. I think their bond comes out of growing together and seeing the game grow together." Arena and Bradley have had to modify their relationship somewhat, understandably, keeping certain things close to the vest as opposing coaches of two professional teams. Bradley did solicit Arena's advice when he was considering the Fire job. Arena urged him to take it, but also told him he would do well to finish third in the Western Conference, an expectation Bradley eclipsed.

Now, with 'Arena all but certain to be named the new U.S. national team coach as early as next week, speculation is that the two will find a way to work together again. "I will do anything I cart to support Bruce," Bradley said. Friday as both men emphasized that Arena's situation is not yet completely resolved. "I don't know yet what that might entail.

I have a good situation where I am." And where he is Sunday is in a position to prove that he and Arena are peers in every sense of the word. game because of bruised ribs. Okaroh will be ready for Lassiter on Sunday. "That's not going to happen Sunday," Okaroh said of a potential Lassiter outburst. "He knows what I bring, and I know what he brings." "Every defender says that about me," Lassiter said.

"I think Francis Okaroh is a very good defender, very smart. But everything is about actions and not words. I'll leave it at that." Timely: The teams won't have to sit around all day thinking about Sunday's game. The 12:30 local starting time was welcomed by some players. "I love it," Fire forward Frank Klopas said.

"You get up, have breakfast, go the stadium and you're ready to go." New turf: Rose Bowl officials resodded the center portion of the field and the areas that make up each end zone. Gone are the painted "UCLA" scripts and the football yard markings that were visible during the playoffs. Officials are expecting a crowd Of 40,000 to 50,000. D.C. has the Honda player of the year, a Marcos Etcheverry.

Who the Chevrolet player of the year is we will just have to guess, but we do know the Bic defender of the year is Lubos Kubik of the Fire, and the AllSport coach of the year is the Fire's Bob Bradley. In fact, the Fire pretty much cleaned up on the awards from the MLS sounds like a fat-free yogurt including those given to the clerks. There is Peter Wilt, executive of the year, Steve Pas-torino, marketing executive of the year, and Adam Low, public relations executive of the year. These awards are unsponsored, so I am guessing they have to pay for them themselves. "Michael Jordan said that the key to success is defense, and we have the best defense in the league," said Peter Novak, the Fire captain.

"Who knows? We may be the next champions in Chicago sports history." When Michael Jordan quotes Ronaldo, soccer will know it has made it) Goalie changes benefit both teams relationship, battling it out on the golf course, where Bradley generally wins, or the tennis court, where neither man can summon up the lifetime series standings. "If you're friends with Bruce, you have to learn to compete with Bruce," Bradley said. "That's the way he is. Our friendship has been based on our challenging each other a great deal." The men remained close after Bradley left to take the Princeton job. Arena stood up in Bradley's 1986 wedding and, with another friend, took him out for a cut-loose bachelor party where the central activity was eating pizza and watching a World Cup match.

Bradley reportedly quaffed iced tea to mark the occasion. For many years, until MLS' summer season intervened, the two families rented a house together on the Outer Banks in North Carolina. It was only natural that Arena would ask Bradley to be his assistant for the Olympics and at D.C. United. "The reason my brother liked working with Bruce is that he regarded him as a co-coach and not an assistant coach," said Jeff Bradley, a writer for ESPN Magazine.

(The third Bradley brother, Scott, was a major-league catcher for nine years who played briefly for the White Sox and stroked the last hit at old Comiskey Park.) "Their philosophy is similar," Jeff Bradley said. "They train their teams very similarly, which is to say that they play a lot of soccer. You don't see a lot of mindless drills. "I don't think their personalities are that alike my brother is more cautious. But when they're together and nothing's at stake, there's a sarcastic humor that they share." D.C.

United players who experienced the joint Arena-Bradley tenure say it was and is a unique dynamic. "It was like having two head coaches," defender Jeff Agoos said. "Bruce was the big-picture guy and Bob took care of the details." John Harkes, who like Agoos also played for Arena at Virginia, said he thinks Arena values Bradley for his straightforwardness. "They're honest with each "Everyone wishes they were out there, but I have all the respect in the world for Tom," Garlick said. "I'm trying not to take too much of a big-brother approach.

I want Tom to be able to experience this for himself." Roman update: Fire forward Roman Kosecki continues to show no ill effects of the strained hamstring that has bothered him since September and sidelined him for all four playoff games. Bradley won't say, however, whether Kosecki will be in the lineup Sunday. "He's worked very hard to get back to this point," Bradley said. "It's hard to judge his health in practice." "Tomorrow I'll be 100 percent," Kosecki said after Saturday's workout at the Rose Bowl. Arena said Kosecki's availability will have "a bearing" on the game.

"He's a very important factor for their team. I think he'll start." Ready to rumble: United forward Roy Lassiter scored four of his. team-high 18 goals in two games against the Fire. Three came in the second half of the July 18 game in Washington, after Fire defender Francis Okaroh left the numbers large enough to scare hockey. The MLS sounds like a low-fare airline has just reduced the number of foreigners allowed on its teams from five to four, convinced that the American talent supply is growing.

The best soccer coach I ever knew, Ron Newman, didn't buy into that get-'em-while-they're-young theory. "We don't need more soccer players," Newman said. "We can get all the soccer players we need. What we need are more owners." Mr. Newman, meet Mr.

Ans-chutz. As much as I know about soccer, and I know quite a lot, I can tell you right now that D.C. United is the New York Yankees of American soccer, so that would make the Fire the San Diego Padres, I guess. The MLS Cup sounds like a bra size-has had no other champion than D.C. United, a tradition that goes all the way back nearly to when Bill met Monica, or as archivisf.

put it, 1996. McAuley sweeps Resurrection with Guokas' 9 kills The Sandburg volleyball team has been filling up the trophy case this season, but not with the right kind of hardware. Saturday the Eagles got the kind they wanted the one' that came with first place in the Lyons Township Invitational Playing without standout setter Stephanie Brandys, who was taking the her college preparatory exams, No. 5 Sandburg defeated the host Lions 10-15, 15-6, 15-11 for its first tournament championship this season. The Eagles completed the regular season with a 30-5 record, a season-high in victories for coach Joann Holverson.

"One of the things we talked about was that we took second at the Nike Challenge, second at Rich East, and then the Maine West Pumpkin Tournament was our first tournament without Stephanie and we finished fifth," Holverson said. "The seniors said, 'Hey guys let's take home the first-place I think that was their motivation." Sandburg started out a little sluggish, while No. 7 Lyons, playing without top outside hitter Bridget LeLonde (injured foot), came' out strong behind hitter Sarah Potts and setter Meghan Keck. The second game saw Sandburg, with hitter Amy McMahon doing the setting, find its game. The Eagles jumped off to an 8-1 lead and were never tested.

Holverson inserted sophomore setter Nicole Kwasigrogh in the third game and it proved to be a good move, as the Eagles scored the last four points for the victory. Sandburg's Sarah Kustok, Meghan McDonough and Katie Engel each had 11 kills in the finals. Erika Lange had 10 kills, 10 blocks and three aces. Lyons coach Joann Pyritz said Glenbrook South's Christine Nolan her singles championship win over Tennis Continued from Page 24 that were upsetting to personal players. We didn't have anyone in the top four, but we had big wins in back-draw matches and in the round of 16." Coulter, a senior, and Williams, a sophomore, exacted revenge for past losses en route to the title.

They upset two-time defending champs Stephanie and Natalie Matko of West Aurora 6-1, 7-6 (7-3) in the semifinals, thwarting the twins' attempt to become the first three-time state champion in doubles. In the finals, the Hinsdale Central duo defeated Liz Fraker Temldn Continued from Page 24 sion that athletics, not education, is their surest ticket to prosperity and happiness. That really would be a disaster and is reason enough to hope Campbell's ruling falls. The scariest part of the Bethalto case may be the notion of judges getting into the business of determining whether high school players are legitimate college athletic prospects. "In this day and age, it's more LA added one apiece for Dundee-Crown, a 4-1 winner over McHenry.

Elgin sectional: Chris Ryan scored the lone goal with an assist from Matt Sweeney as Bartlett edged West Chicago 1-0. Eric Tribune photo by Hung T. Vu hammers a return Saturday during Lake Forest's Margaret Purcell. and Nicole Griglione of Champaign Central 6-2, 6-4. But Coulter and Williams' remarkable run actually started in Thursday's quarterfinals when they defeated New Trier's top doubles team of Jenny Buntman and Ashly Carlson.

The Matkos and the Buntman-Carlson team both beat Coulter and Williams during the regular season. Fraker and Griglione also had a prior win against the Red Devils' pair in last year's state quarterfinals. "They peaked at the right time," Hinsdale Central coach Jerilyn Scardina said. "They've had another year's experience playing each other. The Matkos are probably as good as you're going to get, and they beat them." than just playing time involved," said attorney Robert Ramsey, who represents the nine players and their parents.

"There are a whole bunch of partial and full scholarships available, and a lot of people get those." The case, though, turns mainly on whether the players who missed a game Oct. 9 but were back on the team under Kardis' orders by the following week were afforded due process. Kardis and Ramsey contend they were not; Rucker, of course, disagrees. We'll leave fhat for the courts to Surprises make day even better Margaret Purcell of Lake Forest may have come in second to Christine Nolan in the state tennis tournament, but it wasn't from lack of support. Purcell, who finished fourth last year, received several surprise visits during the weekend competition.

Friday morning, during her fourth-round match against Bata-via's Tanya Ugorich, Purcell looked over to see her brother, Patrick, cheering behind the fence. Patrick Purcell had just arrived from Ithaca, N.Y., where he is a senior at Cornell. Friday night, sister Beth escaped classes at the University of St. Louis to cheer on her little sister. And Purcell's grandmother, Rita Dollard, came out on her 76th birthday, nonetheless, to see Margaret play Saturday.

"I couldn't believe it all," Purcell said. "I was so excited. Having my grandma come out to watch me play was great. Even though I didn't win I played the best I could. That's all you can' ask for." Bits: The semifinal loss by West Aurora's Stephanie and Natalie Matko to Hinsdale Central's Lorraine Coulter and Kate Williams was their first since losing to Rosary as freshmen two years ago.

Purcell was the last player to defeat Nolan in high school competition, winning at the New Trier Invitational in 1997. Nolan has won their three meetings since, including each of the past two state tournaments. Fraker and Griglione have finished as runners-up in doubles the past two years. determine, though the District 8 school board is still deciding whether to appeal. What we want to see is the courts continue to treat sports as a privilege.

To do otherwise invites an avalanche of lawsuits and athletic chaos. Said Illinois High School Association Assistant Executive Director Jim Flynn: "I don't think Billy Bob or Sally Sue have a right to play, just like I don't have a right to an A in a class. You have to work for it." Send mail to Barry Temkin at BarTemiaaoflcom i By Bob Foltman Tribune Staff Writer LOS ANGELES Like his counterpart with the Fire, D.C. United coach Bruce Arena made a bold goalkeeping decision late in the season. And like Bob Bradley's decision to use Zach Thornton instead of Jorge Campos, Arena's choice of Tom Presthus over Scott Garlick has paid off.

Thornton won the starting job with his stellar play while Campos was playing in the World Cup. Garlick was the starting keeper for United for the most of the regular season and played well, finishing second in the league with 19 victories and seven shutouts. But injuries knocked him out of the lineup in September, and Presthus has been in goal since. "It was a gut feeling," Arena said. "Tom has played very well and Scott was fighting some injuries.

But if we had gone with Scott I think we'd still be here." Should United win Sunday with Presthus in goal, he would be the third keeper United has used in its three championships. Mark Simpson was its keeper for the first title and Garlick was in goal last year. Lincicome Continued from Page 1 awaits his next assignment against, oh, Colombia, while the fellow who replaced him and became the league's Pepsi goalie of the year gets to play in the MLS Cup sounds like a light beer. "We are organized at the back," Zach Thornton is saying. "That's pur style.

This should be an exciting game to watch." I Soccer is nothing if not contradictions, so Zach Thornton makes perfect soccer sense. The best explanation ever offered for soccer came from the old INASL sounds like you know what it sounds Jike commissioner, Phil Woos-nam. 1 "If it moves, kick it," Woosnam explained. "If it doesn't move, kick it until it does." America has yet to buy into this simple concept, the beautiful game if you ibelieve Pele, at llast in.