No. 1-ranked teams find a way to win even on their bad days.

River Hill's skill at set pieces and shaky Wilde Lake goalkeeping were all the unbeaten Clarksville team needed to score a 3-0 victory yesterday in a game most of the Hawks would just as soon forget, even though it was their seventh shutout and 19th straight victory dating to last season.

"It was just a bad day," said Hawks forward Adom Crew, who scored his sixth and seventh goals of the season. "We were mentally not in it and had trouble stringing together passes."

No. 10 Wilde Lake passed beautifully throughout most of the game, but the Wildecats (4-4 overall, 2-3 league) could not finish.

"We played aggressively and definitely had a good team effort," Wilde Lake coach Dave Nesbitt said. "The first half was outstanding soccer, but it's tough to come back from a soft goal."

Wildecats goalkeeper Matt Thomas let Crew's one-bounce header slip through his hands in the eighth minute giving the Hawks (10-0 overall, 5-0 league) their first goal.

"Everyone has to have a bum game and we stunk today," River Hill coach Bill Stara said. "We were miscommunicating and we didn't get in behind people. Nobody played well."

Pub Date: 10/14/98