Salsa Offense Adds Strength, Defeats Toronto

Although many areas of the Salsa occupied Coach Rick Davis’ thoughts entering the season, offense did not encroach on his time.

No need for concern there, Davis believed, not with star midfielder Paulinho--league MVP and scoring champion--and speedy forward Paul Wright, second in the league in scoring, back to terrorize goalkeepers. As the season progressed, however, Davis wondered when his high-scoring tandem would get rolling.

Well, they’re in form now, and Davis believes the duo might have added a member Sunday in a 4-0 American Professional Soccer League victory over the Toronto Rockets at Titan Stadium in front of 5,112.

“When you score four goals, you can’t be dissatisfied with much,” Davis said. “This was just an outstanding (offensive) performance. With the way our offense has been playing, nobody wants to play the Salsa right now.”

Not after two consecutive home games in which the Salsa outscored the opposition, 9-1. The Salsa routed Ft. Lauderdale, 5-1, at Titan Stadium last Wednesday.

The Salsa (9-7), second in the APSL to Seattle (10-5), received its usual standout play from Paulinho and Wright against Toronto, but it was midfielder Yari Allnut who provided the spark in this victory. Allnut, a reserve who has battled injuries this season, scored two goals in the second half.

“It just felt really good to get out there,” Allnut said. “All I did was hustle, the team set the tone.”

Allnut, a talented midfielder acquired in the off-season, was supposed to combine with Wright and Paulinho to create a powerful scoring trio. A hamstring tear in his left leg prevented the plan from materializing--until Sunday.

“Yari is an important player for us,” Davis said. “I really didn’t expect him to do this because he hasn’t played a lot, but we knew he could do this. When he gets going, he can put the ball in the net. He was great.”

Wright agreed.

“Yari came in and did a heck of a job,” Wright said. “We all knew about Yari, but now he showed everyone. With how well our offense is going, no one will (want to) play us with Yari out there, too.”

Toronto (4-11) is sixth in the seven-team APSL. The Rockets appeared overmatched from the opening kick.

Wright gave the Salsa a 1-0 halftime lead when he beat Toronto goalkeeper Patrick Onstad on a penalty kick in the 27th minute.

Again No. 2 in the league scoring race to Paulinho, Wright was awarded the penalty kick when Rocket defender Dino Lopez tackled him in the Toronto box, about 12 yards in front of Onstad. Wright is tied with two players at 19 points.

Allnut’s first goal, in the 76th minute, gave the Salsa a 2-0 lead. In the 82nd minute, Paulinho scored his league-leading 10th goal. Paulinho tops the APSL with 22 points.

Allnut and Paulinho combined on the game’s final goal. Paulinho made an excellent crossing pass to Allnut, who scored in the 87th minute.

Salsa goalkeeper Mike Littman continued his strong play, recording his fourth shutout of the season. Still, he’ll take those big scores whenever he can get them.

“I’m very pleased with the way the guys have been knocking the ball around,” Littman said. “We’ve been putting the balls in goal at home, now we have to do it on the road.”

Davis no longer worries about either offense or defense.

“We can win games 5-1 and we can win games 1-0,” Davis said. “That’s what we’ve wanted.”