Major weekend for outdoor soccer

The Metropolitan Soccer League's Major Division opens its outdoorseason Sunday.

The defending champion and U.S. Amateur Cup champion Eagles havebolstered their roster with four players who have recently arrivedfrom Poland in an effort to win the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open Cupsthis season.

Sparta will be the Eagles' first opponent in MetropolitanLeague play, in Wheaton. The Eagles finished second in the circuit'sindoor season and dropped two games in Karl-Heinz Granitza'stournament last weekend at the Odeum.

In the other key opening day game, Pegasus faces Green-White atMajewski Park in Elmhurst.

The Metropolitan will have two new teams - Croatans and Addison- in its First Division. The Croatans had been a member of theNational Soccer League; Addison is a newly-formed team.

In other soccer this weekend, the Chicago Blaze - which plans tojoin the professional American Soccer League in 1991 - will play itsfirst game, an exhibition against Northern Illinois University inDeKalb.

Blaze coach Aleks Mihailovic will use it as a tryout. The heartof his roster will be Ruben Stivan, George Espinosa, Russ Prince,George Wedel, Jack Toma, Bora Petric, Jon Hall and Sammy Doudakh.

HANDBALL: The Irving Park YMCA reasserted its dominance in areahandball by sweeping to the championships of both metropolitanleagues this season.

Irving won three of four matches to nail down the elite RedDivision of the Chicago Metropolitan Handball League, and two ofthree matches to rule the Greater Chicago Handball League.

Bob Adrowski, Tim Sterrett and captain Pat Keefe posted singlesvictories to spark a triumph over West Suburban YMCA in the MetroLeague. Dave Dohman and captain Bud Clarke won the doubles match forRich Port's only victory.

In the Greater Chicago League, Adrowski teamed with Rich Hoffand Sterrett with Bill Auxier as Irving again beat West Suburban.Clarke won in singles for West Suburban.

In the Metro League's Blue Division, Waukegan took three of fourmatches to defeat Logan Square II, while Logan Square I won three offour over Evergreen Bath and Tennis to earn the Green Division title.

In the Greater Chicago League's consolation finals, CircleCampus swept Bloomingdale Sports Complex.

TENNIS: Billie Jean King is honorary chairperson of the fourthannual Racquet Classic Benefit tomorrow at 7 p.m. at Mid-Town TennisClub. The tennis mixer should attract approximately 350 participantswhile raising funds for the Leukemia Research Foundation and theMultiple Sclerosis Society.

Local tennis pros will run clinics at the benefit. Tickets are$40 per individual, $75 per couple. For information, call KimberlyBurmester (427-1161), Tami Olsen (951-4017) or Anne McCarthy(558-8727).

Contributing: Len Ziehm and Tom Carkeek.