February 17th, 2008 . 10:45 am . By: Gina Zippilli

Saturday’s forecast called for heavy rain and cold temperatures. The possibility of cancellation lingered through the day, but by 4 PM just a light rain fell over Pizza Hut Park. The goal of Saturday’s match was to get as many players time on the field as possible. Combined with the amount of miles traveled by the University of Memphis, both teams were determined to get a game in.

Ten minutes into the match, Dominic Oduro sent the ball in from the left. Midfielder Marcelo Saragosa waited for it just outside of the box, and drilled his shot into the right corner of the net to make the score 1-0. 

Ricardinho was supposed to play beside Oduro, but drifted into the midfield instead. Coach Morrow yelled for him to stay parallel with Oduro, but he only did it sparingly. Ricardinho’s drifting resulted in a terribly confused Blake Wagner. Wagner, the real left midfielder, was unsure whether or not to play in Ricardinho’s place or wait for him to push back up. Wagner’s touch was poor; he gave the ball away on multiple occasions.

Wagner redeemed himself in the 35th minute. As the rain grew in intensity, defender Bobby Rhine crossed the ball from the left. Standing right in front of the goal, Wagner twisted his body and hit a side volley that went just wide of the post. 

FCD fielded reserve players in the second half. Forward Roberto Mina, the only familiar face of the bunch, left his mark two minutes in. Dribbling right of the box, Mina chipped the ball to the left. Defender David Wagenfuhr chested it to the ground and shot it with his right foot, the ball rolling past the keeper with ease.

Because last week’s lineup were trialists, Saturday was the day for draft picks to make first impressions on the fans. First-rounder Brek Shea was shocking, but slightly disappointing. Playing striker, Shea was overeager when going one-on-one with another player. Within the first ten minutes of the half, he clumsily, yet aggressively flipped over the man he was supposed to mark. Minutes later, Memphis defender Michael Coburn robbed him of the ball. Coburn ran down the right wing with Shea towering behind him, but Shea soon grew impatient and began to use his hands. Right before the ball rolled out of bounds, Coburn jersey-tugged Shea to the ground in frustration. The referee warned both players.

Despite the warning, Shea played an overeager, physical game until it came back to haunt him. In the 73rd minute, a Memphis player stood at the top of the box. Shea slid at him in a Chris Gbandi-style, two-footed, studs-up tackle. Immediately apologizing, he watched in disappointment as the red card came flying out of the referee’s pocket. Thankfully, Shea is only seventeen years old. He shows promise as a versatile midfielder, but just needs to channel his energy into smart challenges and patience.

The remaining fifteen minutes played out quietly, and Dallas won with a 2-0 score. FCD will travel to Monterrey, Mexico on Wednesday to play partner club Tigres before returning home to play West Texas A&M on February 23rd.  

Categories: Match Report.

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