Barber Steps It Up for Splash
Danny Barber is the Splash’s second-leading scorer, but his value in the playoffs may be increased by something far less tangible.
Barber is his team’s only player to win a Continental Indoor Soccer League championship.
Barber scored three goals and had an assist in the Splash’s 8-3 victory Sunday over Washington in the regular-season finale at the Pond.
The Splash (15-13), two games behind first-place San Diego in the Western Division, is the fifth-seeded team in the playoffs. It opens Friday in Dallas, where the Sidekicks are 13-1.
But more importantly, Barber knows from experience--a third-place Western Division finish with Las Vegas in 1994--that a team doesn’t have to win a division title, doesn’t have to be the favorite, doesn’t have to play two out of three games at home, to win a championship.
“There’s a big difference between having playoff experience [like several Splash players who won division titles] and winning the whole thing,” said Splash Coach Ian Fulton, an assistant on that Las Vegas team. “Danny can talk about it. It will make a positive influence.”
Barber was less sure.
“I’m not one to put what I’ve done in someone else’s face, especially since we beat Anaheim [in the semifinals],” Barber said. “The key was that every game, someone else stepped up. Someone has to get the big goal when you need it. . . .”
“If we commit ourselves, believe in ourselves, we think we can beat anybody.”
One of those who stepped up was Kenny Hesse, playing for injured Bernie Lilavois (sprained knee), the team’s second-leading goal-scorer. Hesse scored his second professional goal to give the Splash a 2-1 halftime lead.
Dale Ervine had two goals, and Doug Neely and Paul Agyeman also scored.
Just like the Las Vegas team Barber played for his rookie season, the Splash go into the playoffs with momentum, having won four of five after a dreadful midseason.
Three of those four victories were against playoff teams.
“Guys are moving off the ball,” midfielder Sam George said. “When we’re moving, it’s difficult to mark us, and the guys with the most success from that is Danny, Dale [Ervine] and Bernie.
“Guys are confident in each other. No one’s saying, ‘What’s the matter with our team, we got problems, we got this, we got that.’ Everyone’s saying, ‘Hey, we’ve got a good team. Let’s win this.’ ”
Fulton said this was his team’s best performance on defense. Ruben Fernandez had 16 saves, and John O’Brien matched his career high with five blocks.
But the night belonged to Barber, whose four points gave him 51 this year, 17 in the last six games. It was his first hat trick of the season, giving him 21 goals.
Barber scored three times as the Splash took 6-1 lead into the fourth quarter. He scored by kicking a left-footed dribbler past a defender and goalkeeper Brett Phillips for a 1-0 lead, diving headlong into a header from 25 feet for a 5-1 lead, and stepping in front of Phillips’ pass along the boards and one-touching a right-footed blast from 60 feet.
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CISL Playoffs
Opponent: Dallas Sidekicks.
Records: Dallas 16-12, Splash 15-13.
Playoff dates: Game 1, Oct. 4 at Dallas; Game 2, Oct. 7 at the Pond; Game 3, if needed, Oct. 9 at Dallas.
This season: Dallas beat the Splash, 14-9, at the Pond on June 14 in the season-opener.
