Dallas’ Dade Scores Late Goal That Kicks Splash Out of Playoffs

Splash players slowly walked around the perimeter of the field giving uninspired high-fives to fans leaning over the glass.

There was no bounce. There was no reason.

The Splash had just been eliminated by Dallas, 5-4, in the second game of a best-of-three first-round playoff series. The end came on Eric Dade’s goal with only 24 seconds left. With it, Dallas advanced to the Continental Indoor Soccer League semifinals against the winner of tonight’s Detroit-Monterrey game.

The Splash finish disappointed, disconsolate, defeated.

And that lonely walk around the field one last time?

“It was a hollow feeling,” said Dale Ervine, whose bad pass across the field set up the final, frantic sequence. “We let down a lot of people, including ourselves.”

David Doyle intercepted Ervine’s pass with about 40 seconds remaining, giving the Sidekicks a two-on-one advantage. The two? Doyle, who led the league in goals, and Tatu, who led in total points.

Goalkeeper Ruben Fernandez ran to the side boards to try to cut off Tatu, and Splash defender Doug Neely got back and tried to tie up Tatu while Fernandez got back to the goal mouth. There, he saw Doyle’s pass to Dade at the top of the arc. Dade’s shot past Neely was deflected by Splash defender John O’Brien, and Fernandez was left spread-eagled on the ground.

“I am so disheartened right now, I don’t even know how to explain it,” O’Brien said.

“The score never should have been 4-4, anyway,” Ervine said.

Dave Reichert was credited with a goal, giving Dallas a 1-0 lead. Fernandez saved the ball, but it squirted out of his hands while he was rising off the turf.

After Mike Lynch and Kenny Hesse gave the Splash a 2-1 lead, Doyle scored uncontested nine seconds later--after O’Brien slipped and fell.

The Splash, the worst power-play offense in the league after being the best a year ago, failed to convert its second opportunity late in the third quarter; Tatu scored 56 seconds later, extending the Dallas lead to 4-2.

“That was a big turning point,” Splash forward Paul Agyeman said. “We were just running around, not into the game, it seemed like.”

In fact, the game mirrored the Splash’s season; it worked hard to score, then gave up an easy goal.

“This is a very tough way to go out,” said Fernandez, who had 28 saves. “We never expected it.”

The Splash played without Danny Barber, who pulled a hamstring and missed the second half of the 6-5 loss in Game 1. The Splash had 4-2 and 5-3 leads in that game.

“That was the key to the series,” said Bernie Lilavois, who is scheduled to have knee surgery Wednesday to repair two torn ligaments he has played on since Sept. 2.

“We had the chance to win there and didn’t. We couldn’t capitalize on our end, and Dallas came back. This typified the series. We missed too many chances, and there’s no room for mistakes in a three-game series.”

The Splash rallied back from its 4-2 deficit with fourth-quarter goals by Hesse, who scored two goals for the first time in his career, and Ervine, who scored the tying goal at 8 minutes 30 seconds.

“We were definitely confident, but we never really got in rhythm,” Lilavois said. “We were out of sync on our passes, traps, shots.”

Which meant everything, basically.