Splash Hits the Books in 12-1 Victory
The Continental Indoor Soccer League’s record book is a little light, this being the league’s second year, but the Splash made a heavy impact on it Wednesday night.
The Splash scored a CISL-record 12 consecutive goals and came within one second of scoring the league’s first shutout in a 12-1 victory over the Houston Hotshots in front of 3,111 at The Pond of Anaheim.
Beto scored on a rebound of Juan Arboledo’s shot with one second left, robbing Jorge Valenzuela of a piece of history. He had 13 saves.
Valenzuela had lots of help in the back from Ralph Black, Paul McDonnell, Denis Hamlett, Glen Ervine and Doug Neely. The defense allowed the offense to find its way into the record book as eight players scored.
“We did an outstanding job defensively,” said midfielder Raffaele Ruotolo, whose goal 5 minutes 38 seconds into the third quarter gave the Splash an 8-0 lead and the record.
Armando Valdivia (two goals, one assist) scored 1:21 later, and Dale Ervine scored 13 seconds after that to make it 10-0.
Sam George and Neely added goals in the fourth quarter. Neely’s goal was the 18th in a row by the Splash in the last two games, matching an indoor record by Wichita of the Major Indoor Soccer League in 1980; it also is a CISL record.
Rod Castro and Dale Ervine extended their goal-scoring streaks to three games. McDonnell, George and Ruotolo had two goals apiece.
The Splash (3-0) lead the Western Division by a half-game over Portland (2-0). Houston (0-3) is in last place in the East.
Notes
The Splash leaves Friday for Detroit, watch the U.S.-Switzerland World Cup game Saturday at the Pontiac Silverdome and play the Neon (0-2) on Sunday. The Splash’s next home game is Wednesday against Detroit. . . . Washington’s Colette Cunningham became the first female player in professional soccer history Wednesday when she played in Dallas. Cunningham was a two-time All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection at North Carolina State. Dallas (3-0) won, 8-4. Washington is 0-1. . . . In other games Wednesday, Monterrey (2-1) beat San Diego (1-2), 9-7, and Las Vegas (2-1) beat Detroit (0-2), 9-6.
