Voyou has hot weekend

Maine Maritime Academy striker B.C. Voyou had the game of his life Saturday.

That’s quite a statement, considering the Mariners’ junior has been the state’s leading collegiate scorer for the last two years.

Voyou burned Endicott College for an MMA-record five goals as the Castine-based Mariners of Coach Bill Ashby cruised to a 6-1 victory at Wenham, Mass. Voyou accomplished the feat even though he did not play the final 25 minutes.

“They didn’t know anything about us, so they were playing zone defense,” Ashby said, chuckling.

The scoring outburst was unusual not only because Voyou is off to what his coach termed a slow start, but because he has grown accustomed to having two or three defenders converge on him every time he touches the ball.

With all the defensive attention he has received, Voyou’s goal production is down slightly in 1994. The 5-foot-10, 175-pounder from Monrovia, Liberia, has notched 12 goals in nine games this season, including three more Sunday against Western New England College in Springfield, Mass.

“He gets marking at least two, sometimes three (people) a game,” Ashby said. “Other people have picked up the scoring slack, because they’re open and B.C. has been able to get the ball to those guys.”

Voyou has dished out seven assists while leading MMA to an 8-3 record.

What is even more surprising about Voyou’s success is the fact he is 32 years old. He gives away more than 10 years to most of his counterparts.

“You’ve got to give the guy credit,” Ashby said. “He’s in great shape. He’s got the body of a 21-year-old.”

Ashby said Voyou already owns all the MMA scoring records, even though he still has eight games this fall and his entire senior season in front of him.

“He’s a steady performer,” Ashby said. “You only have to give him half a chance and he’ll put it home.”

Through last weekend, Voyou has registered 65 goals and 21 assists in 46 games at MMA. He is no slouch in the classroom, either, earning adidas Academic All-American honors last season.

“He’s a great dribbler,” Ashby said. “A lot of soccer players dribble around defenders, but he takes the game to them.”

Voyou, who received a scholarship from the Liberian government, chose MMA primarily because John Harvey, a close friend from Liberia, encouraged him to do so three years ago.

UMaine hockey player Mike Latendresse, who found out last Friday that he has exhausted his NCAA eligibility, is struggling to come to grips with his plight.

With his prospects for a pro career seemingly diminished because he’ll be unable to play this winter, Latendresse admits being angry that university officials made a mistake in his case.

“They told me I had three years left,” said Latendresse, who sat out the 1991-92 season because he was a partial qualifier under NCAA initial eligibility rules. He forfeited another year because he played four games in Canadian Major Junior A hockey in 1990-91.

“The university made a mistake before, not having someone on that (compliance officer) job full time,” Latendresse said. “The athletes are paying for it and it’s not their fault. It has happened to many players in many sports.”

Latendresse said that based on what he has learned about NCAA rules and the compliance process, coaches should be fully aware of how their athletes fit into the rules.

“Now I think the coaching staffs of every team should know a good part of the NCAA rule book,” he said. “But I don’t want to blame anybody. It’s a mistake that was done a long time ago.”

Latendresse praised the university’s efforts to straighten out its compliance system, lauding acting compliance officer Tammy Light.

“I think the compliance office and the university are doing a great job of finding those things out,” Latendresse said. “The only thing is now it’s too late for me.”

No announcement concerning a new director of athletics at the University of Maine is expected in the next few days, according to Kay Hyatt, the university’s director of news services.

“I can tell you the process is ongoing,” Hyatt said. “We don’t anticipate any announcement, certainly not this week. It’s something that we want to do as soon as possible.”

The university’s list of three finalists was trimmed to two Monday when Doug Woolard was hired as the athletic director at St. Louis University. Jack McDonald of the University of Denver and Butch Worley of Texas remain in the hunt for the position vacated by Mike Ploszek in April.