Fernandez, Ervine Spark the Splash to 7-3 Victory

Ruben Fernandez turned in his best performance of the season, and Dale Ervine scored three goals as the Splash beat Sacramento, 7-3, Tuesday at Arco Arena.

The victory, in front of an announced crowd of 7,464, ended a three-game trip in which the Splash won at Portland last week and lost to Seattle on Sunday. Sacramento already had beaten Monterrey and Dallas, who were projected to finish first and second in the Eastern Division in a preseason coaches’ poll.

Anaheim (2-2), projected to be the Western Division champion in the same poll, beat the team expected to finish second. Sacramento is 2-1.

Fernandez had 19 saves, many of them spectacular. His performance came on the night Doug Neely returned to defender after spending more than a year as a midfielder. Coach Ian Fulton said it was to give the Splash more experience in the back, and it paid off.

All of Ervine’s goals came before two sixth-attacker goals, by Sam George and Danny Barber, that put the game out of reach.

Ervine’s first goal tied the score, 2-2. His next two goals gave the Splash 4-3 and 5-3 leads, the former at 8:37 in the fourth quarter. He also had an assist.

Paul Agyeman scored twice for the Splash.