Courier-Post from Camden, New Jersey • Page 38

2D COURIER-POST, Saturday, April 4, 1998 I SfflSffiKS.l ivera takes more shots in goal was assigned triple duty. When the Phantoms learned backup goaltender Brian Boucher had the flu, Rivera received a phone call and was told to show up for a 10 a.m. Phantoms practice at the Hollydell Ice Arena in Sewell. After his practice with the Phantoms, Rivera was instructed to hop in his car and join the Flyers for their 11:30 a.m. practice at the Coliseum in Voorhees, where goaltender Ron Heztall was rehabbing a sore hip.

Rivera was then instructed to join the Phantoms for Friday night's home game against the Albany River Rats at the Core-States Spectrum, where he'd serve as backup to Neil Little. Rivera, whose hockey playing career before this season consist By CHUCK GORMLEY Courier-Post Staff VOORHEES There Joey Rivera was, stripping off his goaltender's pads at the locker stall normally occupied by Ron Heztall. Sweating profusely, he stared around a room that included Eric Lindros, Paul Coffey and John LeClair. "It's awesome," he said of his chance in a lifetime. "How else can you describe it?" Joey Rivera, you may remember, is the 25-year-old Sterling High School graduate who has become the emergency backup goaltender for the Philadelphia Phantoms of the American Hockey League.

On Friday, however, Rivera ed of one high school game at Sterling and several men's leagues games, said he landed his shot in the pros simply by volunteering his goaltending services during the NHL lockout in 1995, when several Flyers worked out at Hollydell. He continued to get ice time whenever the Phantoms needed a practice goalie and he said there is an outside chance he'll see his first action as a professional tonight when the Phantoms visit the New Haven Beast, although he admits it's a very long shot "Hey, you never know," he said. Rivera signed an amateur try-out contract with the Phantoms back in November when Hextall had back spasms and has been Phillies put Portugal on DL, add Gomes McDermott Classic. With the two hottest golfers on the Senior PGA Tour making it tight, Tom Wargo went on his own hot streak Friday to increase his lead in The Tradition in Scotsdale, Ariz. Wargo went on a birdie binge on the back side of the Cochise course at Desert Mountain, shooting a 67, to take a two-shot lead over defending champion Gil Morgan in the $1.4 million tournament.

Carin Koch, benefitting from improved afternoon weather conditions, shot a 2-under-par 70 on Friday for a three-shot lead after two rounds of the Longs Drugs Challenge in Lincoln, Calif. Koch, a non-winning Swede in her fourth LPGA season, carded 11 straight birdies before making two back-nine birdies as the sun broke through as the leader was en route to her 8-under-par 136 total. Davenport out HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. There's almost nobody left to upset in the Family Circle except maybe NBC Sports and fans with weekend tickets after top-seeded Lindsay Davenport wasted three match points to lose to Ir-ina Spirlea 6-7 (7-3), 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) on Friday. Monica Seles, the third seed, almost followed Davenport down, surviving three match points in a third-set tiebreaker to beat Patty Schnyder 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6).

Davenport joins second-seeded Jana Novotna, No. 5 Mary Pierce, No. 7 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and No. 9 Con-chita Martinez as some of the game's biggest draws dumped before the semifinals. The Davis Cup tie between the United States and Russia was thrown into turmoil Friday when spring thunderstorms swept through Atlanta, forcing postponement of the first two singles matches.

The first two singles in the best-of-5 series would begin today at 1 p.m. The doubles will follow at 10 a.m. Sunday. TCNJ romps Fueled by the bat of Pitman High School graduate Dan Datz, The College of New Jersey opened its NJAC schedule with a 27-8 rout of the Ospreys of Richard Stockton College Friday. Datz hit for the cycle against Stockton, going 5-for-6 with 4 RBIs.

Antawn Jamison wins Wooden Award LOS ANGELES North Carolina forward Antawn Jamison completed his sweep of player of the year awards Friday with the one he said meant the most to him the 22nd annual John R. Wooden Award. 1 "This is something that's very special," the soft-spoken 6-foot-9 junior said. "It's kind of hard to put into words what it means. It's really a prestigious award, the highest a college basketball player can receive." Jamison becomes the third North Carolina player to be so honored, joining current Tar Heels assistant Phil Ford, who -won in 1978, and Michael Jordan, the winner in 1984.

Jamison was a runaway winner with 5,041 points in the balloting of nearly 1,000 sports-writers and sportscasters in 50 states, who vote from a ballot of 15 players selected by the Wooden Award National Advisory Board. All-American point guard Mike Bibby will forgo his final two years of eligibility at the University of Arizona and enter the National Basketball Association draft, according to the Arizona Republic. The University of Texas on Friday reinstated Luke Ax-tell, a basketball player whose grades were given to a radio station during the controversy that led to coach Tom Penders resignation. Texas 500 delay FORT WORTH, Texas Another day, another major problem at the Texas Motor Speedway. This time, it was water seeping from under the track in turn one that caused qualifying for Sunday's Winston Cup Texas 500 to be delayed until today.

There were a dozen wrecks Friday as Winston Cup and Busch Grand National drivers practiced, then qualified. The water wasn't believed to be a factor until the final two, by Derrike Cope and Lake Speed, during the seventh and ninth Cup qualifying attempts. Team Rahal swept the top two spots in provisional qualifying for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach in Long Beach, with Bryan Herta barely beating out boss Bobby Rahal. PGA rookie leads NEW ORLEANS While the big names were packing up and leaving town, Steve Flesch, a left-handed rookie who couldn't make it into the Tournament Players Championship two weeks ago, was planning on staying the course. He carded a 4-under-par 68 Friday for a two-stroke lead after 36 holes of the Freeport- By KEVIN ROBERTS Courier-Post Staff ATLANTA The baseball season has officially begun, as the Phillies placed their first pitcher on the disabled list Friday.

An MRI on Mark Portugal's right knee came back negative, but he's in some pain and obviously can't run (as anyone who watched Portugal against the Mets Thursday would attest), so the Phillies are getting a second opinion this week. But he is on the disabled list, and Wayne Gomes was called up Friday to take Portugal's place on the roster. Garrett Stephenson now moves into the second slot in the rotation behind Curt Schilling and is scheduled to start the home opener against the Marlins Tuesday. That still leaves the Phillies with an open spot in the rotation April 11 against the Gomes said. "I understood the move.

I was glad they kept me in mind when the spot opened up. It was fair on both sides." Gomes made a strong case to make the team in spring training, 13 scoreless innings, with no walks. He lost 20 pounds in an off-season conditioning program, and has begun to look like the pitcher the Phillies hoped for when they drafted him first in 1993 draft. But when they signed Matt Whiteside at the end of spring training, Gomes became expendable. "I thought I handled it pretty decent, which I think paid off for me," Gomes said.

"I could've made it bad on myself. A young guy in any job, any profession, you get the short end of the stick sometimes. But there are a lot of people in this world working as hard as I am who are a lot worse off than me. "I was ticked off, sure. Who wouldn't be? But I couldn't really cry about it." The decision to bring up Gomes now and worry about a starter later was a fairly easy one.

A starter won't pitch for eight days, a reliever is available to help now. used as an emergency backup for the Phantoms four times this season, never seeing any game action. He said he earns $300 a-game, but the experience has been far more rewarding. "Lindros is impossible to stop," Rivera said. "LeClair has a cannon.

And Paul Coney nit me right between the eyes and left a dent in my mask. Rivera said his part-time hockey career cost him his full-time job as manager of Hollydell's pro shop. But he was hired for the same position by former Flyer Brian Propp at the Medford Ice Arena. "Propp understands the game; and he realized this only happens once in a while," Rivera said. Once in a lifetime is more like it.

"It just seemed silly to bring a starter here and not pitch him" Francona said. "If the first two games are any indication, we'll need him. We've gone pretty deep into our bullpen both times." The Phillies needed 10 innings from the bullpen in the first two games. No mas: The Mets' three-run ninth inning Thursday that almost overtook the Phillies started with a single by first baseman John Olerud off Leiter. No one should have been surprised by that Olerud is a lifetime 9-for-12 against Leiter.

The Phillies hung on to win 6-5. Today's game: Tyler Green (4-4, 4.93 in 1997) makes his first start of the season against Kevin Millwood (5-3, 4.03). Braves third baseman Chipper Jones is a lifetime l-for-12 against Jones. Millwood faced the Phillies twice last year, and was dominating 2-0 with no runs allowed in 10 innings, including a victory in his major-league debut. The only Phillie who had a hit against Millwood last year is Mike Lieberthal (l-for-3).

won't see anything in the next two weeks they haven't seen before. "I must have been asked about a goaltender controversy a hundred times last season," Rod Brind'Amour said. "For us, it makes no difference who's in goal. We play the same way no matter what." Today's Auto Races NASCAR BUSCH GRAND Site: Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth, Texas Track: 1 .5 mile tri-oval paved speedway with 24 degrees of banking in the corners and five degrees on the straights. The frontstretch is 2,250 feet in length and the backstretch is 1.330 feet.

Distance: 300 miles200 laps. Purse: $885,284. TV: Channel 3 (CBS), 2 p.m. (Announcers: Ken Squier, Mike Joy, Buddy Baker, Ned Jarrett, Dick Berggren, Ralph ansnssn, on stepnens). Defending Champion: Mark Martin.

Notes: Martin won last year's Coca-Cola 300 from the 20th starting spot By this time last year, Martin had three Busch Series victories. He had none this season. Last week's winner at Bristol, Elliott Sadler led 100 of the 250 laps and never ran lower than fourth. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is one ot the hottest drivers in the series.

The rookie is in second place in the standings, seven points behind Mike McLaughlin. He has two seconds and a third in the first six races, including runnerup to Sadler last Saturday at Bristol. Progressive Motors ports has a one-race agreement with Justin Boot Co. as the primary sponsor of Jason Keller's No. 57 Chevrolet.

The team ran the first six races of the season without a primary sponsor Randy LaJoie, the defending series champion, is currently sixth in points, 71 behind McLaughlin. LaJoie has yet to lead a lap this season. A series-record 130,000 tans attended last year's race. Points: Mike McLaughlin (1 win) 823, Dale Earnhardt Jr. S16, Matt Kenseth (1 win) 810, Elliott Sadler (1 win)796, Buckshot Jonas 759, Randy LaJoie 752, Dick Trickle 748, Harmie Sadler 742, Elton Sawyer 697, Jason Keller 692, Jeff Burton 663, Mark Green 659, Mike DWon 641, Glenn Alien 619, Jeff Purvis 610, Tim Fedewa 582.

Mark Martin 581, Tracy Leslie 564, Andy Santerre 558, Phil Parsons 548. Others winners: Joe Nemechek, Jimmy Spencer, Bobby Labonte. Next race: April 11, Galaxy Foods 300, Hickey, N.C., 6 p.m., TNN Clinics PAULSBORO South Jersey Wrestling Clinic at Paulsooro High School July 6-9. Bantams (ages 6-8 9 a.m. to noon; juniors (9-12) 9 a.m.

to 2 p.m.; high school (ages 13-18) 6-9 p.m. Featured clinician is Iowa senior Joe Williams, a tour-time All-America and three-time NCAA champion. Call Paul Morirta. 423-4612. NEWS SAYS: Playoff tested Here is a look at the postseason statistics of Ron Hextall and Sean Burke: Ron Hextall Year Team Record GAA 1986- 87 Flyers 15-11 2.77 1987- 88 Flyers 2-4 4J5 1988- 89 Flyers 8-7 332 1992- 93 Quebec 2S4 2.90 1993- 94 Islanders 0-3 608 1994- 95 Flyers 10-5 2JM 1995- 96 Flyers 6-6 2A3 1996- 97 Flyers 4-3 27 Flyers Totals 45-36 2.95 Career Totals 47-43 X04 Sean Burke Year Team Record GAA 1987-88 Devils 9-8 3.42 1989- 90 Devils 0-2 3Ji4 Career Totals 9-10 3.46 Won Vezina and Conn Smythe trophies SPOT See These Merchants for NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCKS: Florida Dodge Dealers 400 Great Coupon Braves and they'll have to make a move before then.

The likely candidate is Matt Beech, who in spring training was edged out by Stephenson for the fifth spot. It definitely won't be Mark Leiter, who wants to be in the rotation but is staying put in the bullpen. "We never viewed that as a demotion," Phillies manager Terry Francona said. "We need him there. We need somebody to get to (closer Ricky Bottalico).

Leit gives us a chance to have a deeper bullpen. "Besides, that's not fair to him, to put him in the rotation and then two weeks later when Portugal comes back to put him back in the bullpen." Gomes never even made it to Class AAA Scranton after he was sent out March 28, the last cut of the spring. "I felt like I kind of had this coming to me, that I deserved it," NATIONAL: Coca-Cola 300 BUSCH SERIESIHIII I'Mntl On i-intt EAST BRUNSWICK 7PM-9PM COMMUNITY CARTERET 9AM 4PM each dav 4PM Phone No. i Site: Miami-Dade Homestead Motorsports Complex, Homestead, Fla. Race: 2 of 27.Track: 1.5 mile paved superspeedwav Sues! with six degrees of banking in the turns and three degrees of banking on the straights.

The track has been reconfigured since last year's event. Distance: 400 kilometers250.5 miles167 laps (The race will be run in two segments split by a mandatory pit stop). Purse: $469,505. TV: TNN. 5 D.m..

same-dav delavad (Announcers! EH coupon reaches If 95 over 261,000 adults for as little as i -5 ae la Call 486-2502 FlyersChoosing a goalie Gold, Glenn Jarrett, Matt Yocum). Defending Champion: Kenny Irwin. Notes: The series opener 11 weeks ago was won by Ron Homaday The Bud Pole hasn't been the place to start. Inaugural race winner Dave Rezendea came from the fifth starting position and last year's winner Irwin started 10th. Both race winners drove Fords.

Defending series champion Jack Sprague in the only driver to post two top-five finishies at Homestead. Joe Ruttman, runner-up to Hornaday in the Jan. 18 season-opener, has three consecutive top-two finishes two wins and a second on tracks of a mile or greater in length Sprague has the best superspeedwav record over the past year, eight top-10 finishes, including seven among the top-four positions The past two Homestead finishes are No. 2 (0.022 second, 1996) and No. 10 (0.289 seconds, 05! 00 TrU Series "st c8881 decisions.

That's an average victory margin of Points: Ron Homaday 180, Joe Ruttman 170, Rick Careili 165, Jack Sprague 160, Greg Brffle 155, Joe Nemechek 150, Jay Sauter 146, Bob Keselowski 142, Butch Miller Rich Bickle 134, Boris Said 130. Mike Blisa 127, Bryan Raftner 124, Jimmy Hensley 121. Wayne Anderson 118, Tony Raines 115, Tammy Jo Kirk 112, Kevin Harvtck 109, Mike Skinner 106, Randy Tolsma 103. Next Race: April 19, Chevy Trucks Desert Star Classic, Phoenix, 6 p.m., ESPN2. DAVE TREFFINGER PIUS COURT FEE WITH AD EXP.

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