SPLASH NOTEBOOK / MARTIN HENDERSON : Penalty Time Looms Over Hamlett
Denis Hamlett is playing like an all-star, but he leads the league in penalty minutes (14). However, the Splash defender wasn’t penalized at all in the last two games, a 9-4 victory over Houston and an 8-7 loss to Las Vegas.
Why is that important? Because after “The Hammer” reaches 20 minutes--and he will--he must skip the Splash’s next home game, according to Continental Indoor Soccer League rules.
By going two games without a penalty--and moving closer to that 20-minute mark--it’s now a virtual lock that the big defender will be in the lineup for Saturday’s showdown with Sacramento (9-0) even though there’s a game tonight against Arizona at The Pond of Anaheim.
“I got a little lucky in the Houston game; [the official] was going to give me two minutes--the card was halfway out of his pocket,” Hamlett said. “I just have to be aggressive, but smart aggressive. There’s times you want to win every ball, but I said to myself, ‘You have to pick your moments.’ That’s what I did the last two games, but neither game was real physical.”
Had Hamlett gotten two minutes in each of those games, and picked up another tonight, he would be ineligible for the Sacramento game. Now, he has six penalty minutes to play with, and he said he has never received six penalty minutes in a game--which carries an automatic one-game penalty, anyway.
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General Manager Tim Ryan expects attendance for Saturday’s game against Sacramento to exceed the franchise record of 8,842. Not only are the Knights the CISL’s only undefeated team and off to the best start in CISL history, but they provided memorable opposition in the first round of last year’s playoffs. The game will be televised at 1 p.m. Sunday on Prime Sports.
Even though it is a delayed broadcast, Ryan still says it’s important: “Television is crucial in the development of any new sport. It exposes the sport as an entertainment medium and reinforces everything that we’ve been promoting since the franchise moved to The Pond.”
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Jorge Valenzuela and Ruben Fernandez are third and fourth among league goalkeepers in goals-against average. Valenzuela’s GAA is 5.98, and Fernandez’s is 6.02. Sacramento’s Mike Dowler leads at 5.62, followed by San Jose’s Dan Madsen (5.69).
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The first time the Splash played Houston, the teams combined for league record for shots in a game (111). Saturday’s Splash victory provided a league record-tying performance for fewest penalty minutes--none. Only two other games this season have been so clean, Washington-Monterrey and San Jose-Arizona.
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The Splash scored 10 second-half goals the last time it played Arizona, winning 10-6.
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Standings: Southern Division: Splash 6-3, San Diego 6-3, Mexico 6-5, Houston 3-7, Arizona 2-6.
Western Division: Sacramento 9-0, San Jose 5-4, Portland 5-5, Seattle 3-6, Las Vegas 3-7.
Eastern Division: Monterrey 10-1, Dallas 5-4, Washington 5-5, Pittsburgh 1-6, Detroit 1-8.
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Up next: The first-place Splash (6-3) play three games in four days, beginning with tonight’s game against Arizona (2-6) on trading card night; the Splash play host to Sacramento (9-0) on Saturday on team photo night, and travel to Portland (5-5) Sunday.
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On the air: Splash games tonight and Saturday will be broadcast live, 7:35 p.m., on KORG 1190-AM; Sunday’s game will be delayed 2 1/2 hours, starting at 8:35 p.m.
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Around the league: Washington Coach Jim Gabarra, who played for the L.A. United before the franchise became the Splash, was assessed the stiffest fine in league history, $5,000 and a one-game suspension, for pulling his team off the field for two minutes in its 9-8 loss to Dallas. Gabarra also ripped officials after the game. Gabarra was suspended an additional game by Warthog President Barry Silberman. . . . Sacramento’s Jon Parry was named the CISL’s player of the week after a six-goal performance against Portland and a three-point game against San Jose. . . . Portland’s Jeff Betts was named player of the week for July 16. Splash’s Dale Ervine, the league’s No. 5 point-scorer (28 points in nine games), was considered both weeks.
