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Ain't that a Sidekick in the head: Dallas' season over after comeback attempt falls short
BY J. David Barron, dbarron@starlocalnews.com
ALLEN -- The return season of the Dallas Sidekicks was a little shorter than hoped for.
Behind a third-quarter hat trick from Franck Mbemba, the Sidekicks completed an improbable rally from a 4-0 halftime deficit to tie Game 2 of an opening-round playoff series Thursday, only to watch Rio Grande Valley answer with a quick three-goal barrage of its own to end the period.
The Flash coasted from there to an 8-5 win and series sweep in front of 3,274 fans at the AEC.
"We just didn't do the job."
The Flash (14-4) advance to the PASL Ron Newman Cup semifinals in San Diego on March 10-11. Dallas (13-5) won the Central Division before losing two straight to the Flash. Rio Grande Valley won the first leg of the series Feb. 24 in Hidalgo, 5-4 in overtime. Thursday's loss was the Sidekicks' first setback at home this season, which was the franchise's first back on the indoor pitch in eight years.
Rio Grande Valley opened the scoring with two goals less than two minutes apart during the middle of the initial stanza. The Flash added two more in the second and walked confidently into the locker room while the body language of the Sidekicks seemed as flat as the crowd's enthusiasm.
Dallas head coach Tatu declined comment moments after the game, but former head coach Gordon Jago also noted the team's apparent lack of motivation to begin the match.
"When [the Sidekicks] needed a performance, it wasn't there," he said. "They were a little flat."
The Sidekicks immediately went on the attack to begin the second half and finally broke through with a goal by Pablo da Silva just over two minutes into the frame. A power-play opportunity netted Dallas' second goal and started Mbemba's rampage when he tapped in a nice feed from Chad Deering. Cody Ellis passed to Mbemba to make it a one-goal game four minutes later, then the AEC went crazy when Mbemba blasted a shot into the top right corner just past the outstretched hands of Flash goalkeeper Juan Gamboa to tie the match, 4-4.
As quickly as the Sidekicks seemed to resuscitate their season, they saw it evaporate.
The Flash struck with a three-goal flurry in less than three minutes to end the third quarter up, 7-4.
"At 4-4, we thought the momentum changed," Jago said. "But the Flash showed how good they were. Give all the credit to Rio. They are a very good side. They shut down Dallas with an excellent defense."
Sidekicks' leading scorer Jamie Lovegrove capped the home team's scoring with a boot off a nice feed from Nick Stavrou to make it 7-5, but with only 2:05 left to play. There would be no more offense from Dallas as Rio Grande Valley picked up another insurance goal for an 8-5 win and 2-0 series victory.
"I don't know what to say ... we are so disappointed, it's really tough to explain," Mbemba said. "We beat ourselves again. We went forward, but we forgot to play defense. We had a good season, but we didn't finish it like we expected."
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