Splash Makes a Run to Beat Arizona : Indoor soccer: Ervine returns to Pond, and former teammates score five consecutive goals to win, 5-3.

The last time Dale Ervine played in The Pond, he had four second-half goals.

Then he was benched.

The last time the Splash played the Arizona Sandsharks--one game later--the Splash scored seven goals in the fourth quarter.

And lost.

Since the benching, the Splash went into a nose dive that threatened its playoff hopes and Ervine was traded to Arizona.

Thursday night, they met again.

And for a while, it looked bad--real bad--for the home team. But five goals in a row led the third-place Splash to a 5-3 Continental Indoor Soccer League Southern Division victory over the fourth-place Sandsharks in front of an announced crowd of 6,987.

The Splash (11-10) is currently fourth in the race for two wild-card playoff berths; there are seven games remaining. Arizona is 7-12.

The victory came on the heels of a players-only meeting Tuesday. One of the things stressed--team defense.

“If we came out with the attitude we had and lost, a lot of heads would have been down,” said defender Sean Bowers, who scored the Splash’s final two goals. “This was a big win--probably the biggest of the year for everyone’s confidence. Ruben’s confidence. My confidence. The coach’s confidence.

Goalkeeper Ruben Fernandez had 27 saves and his teammates agreed it was his best game of the season.

And Ervine, sitting in the opposing locker room, didn’t disagree; his team held a 43-28 shot advantage.

“When we got opportunities and needed it to be a goal, Ruben came up with the save,” Ervine said.

Ervine was met largely with cheers--and about 25% boos--during pregame introductions.

He did his damage, scoring his 21st goal of the season--his fifth with the Sandsharks--at 5 minutes 51 seconds of the second quarter to give Arizona a 2-0 lead.

That margin stretched to 3-0 1 1/2 minutes later on Rick Soderman’s goal.

The Splash finally got on the board at 8:37 of the second, after Ervine pulled down Raffaele Ruotolo inside the penalty arc. Ervine drew a two-minute penalty and some words from Denis Hamlett. Ruotolo got a shootout opportunity, and made the most of it, tapping into the right corner for the Splash’s first shootout goal since Ervine scored July 9, 1994, against Carolina.

It was Ruotolo’s 10th power play goal of the year, the second-best total in the CISL; only teammate Doug Neely (12) has more.

“It gave the guys some life,” Coach George Fernandez said. “things weren’t going our way--we had missed two tap-ins and it’s like, ‘Oh God, here we go again--things aren’t going our way.’ It gave us a little life. Down 3-0, the guys were a little dejected.

The Splash missed a few more opportunities, especially from Jose Vasquez and Bernie Lilavois. But Vasquez--who said he was nervous about the game--made it 3-2 at 12:43, taking a long pass from Ruotolo at the top of the arc, and scoring from 20 feet.

The comeback continued in the third quarter when Vasquez scored on a terrific give-and-go from Neely; it was Vasquez’s 15th goal this season, and his ninth in seven games.

Bowers scored on a brilliant move at the top of the arc in the third quarter, a dribble move he used for only the second time in a game; his left-footed shot made it 4-3.

“That was a huge goal,” Coach George Fernandez said. “That’s happened to us so many times--we’ve been down two, three goals and we can’t get that goal that puts us over the top. That gave us some attitude, some confidence.”

Midway through the fourth quarter, Bowers made it 5-3, scoring from the top of the arc off a restart pass from Ruotolo, his 25 assist of the season--fourth best in the league.

Splash notes

The Splash added Ricky Rodriguez (5-11, 155) of Cal State Fullerton to the roster before today’s freeze date. Only players on the roster by today are available for postseason play. Rodriguez, a defensive midfielder, suited up against the Sandsharks. He is eighth in career assists (12) for the Titans. . . . The two goals by the Splash in the second quarter gave it 47 first-half goals this season. Through 21 games last year, the team had scored 79 first-half goals.

The Splash, scoreless in 19 quarters this season, scored in all but 13 quarters last season.. . . Pittsburgh (5-13), which acquired all-star Drago on Thursday in a trade with Detroit, beat visiting San Diego, 7-6. The Sockers (13-6) play at The Pond on Saturday. . . . Only one other team has held the halftime lead as few times as the Splash’s three times--Detroit, which is 1-18.