DALLAS SNAPS TROPICS STREAK WITH 7-6 SHOOTOUT WIN

by Brian Ackley/Tropics

ALLEN, TX -- The Florida Tropics eight-game win streak came to an end Saturday night as the Dallas Sidekicks took a 7-6 shootout win in a Major Arena Soccer League game in Allen, Texas. 

Goals by Victor Parreiras and Ricardo Carvalho in the final six minutes of regulation erased a 6-4 Sidekicks lead, and neither team was able to find the back of the net in the 10 minutes of overtime. The Tropics had a power-play for the final 1:14 of the extra period but could not convert. 

In the three-round shootout, Dallas, who shot first, got goals from Luiz Morales and Sebastian Medez while Florida’s shooters, Victor Parreiras and Carvalho, both missed. It was the first time in team history Florida has gone to a shootout to decide the outcome. 

The Tropics had only one lead in the game at 3-2, and trailed at intermission 5-4. In the franchise’s six-year history they are now 2-24 all time when trailing after two quarters of play on the road. They are also now just 4-8 in team history when the game goes into overtime or shootout. 

One bright spot was the return of Ricardo Diegues who scored twice, after being acquired in a trade with Utica City FC last week. Diegues played with the Tropics during their first three seasons, and when he left the club prior to the 2019-20 season to sign with Utica as a free agent, he was the team’s all-time leading goal scorer with 69. He remains in second place on the all-time goals list for the team, now with 71. 

Carvalho ended up as the team’s leading scorer with a goal and three assists. Zach Reget and Rafa Alves got the other Florida goals. 

Once again the Tropics were unable to shut down high-scoring rookie Luiz Morales who had a four-goal game giving him eight goals in the last two games between the two teams. Florida netminder Jorge Navarette played the first two quarters, with Brett Petricek taking the loss in relief coming in at the start of the second half. 

Florida falls to 10-2 on the season, but does earn one point in the standings for an overtime loss. They have 31 points in 12 games while second place Baltimore has 20 points in 11 game played. Dallas improved to 7-7. Teams get three points for a regulation win, two for an overtime win, one for an overtime loss and no points for a loss in regulation. 

The Tropics fell just short of tying the team record for consecutive wins at nine. They will be on the road for their next four games, starting with games Feb. 26 in Baltimore and Feb. 27 in Harrisburg, followed by a March 5 game in Milwaukee and March 6 game in St. Louis. They will return to the RP Funding Center in Lakeland on Sunday, March 13 against the Tacoma Stars. 

The “Tropics Blitz” will provide free general admission tickets as a way of providing a great evening of family entertainment for parents and kids who have had their activities curtailed because of the ongoing pandemic. 

Vehicles with two or more persons will pay $20 to park, and then be able to take their parking receipt to the RP Funding Center box office for the same number of free tickets to that day’s game as occupants in the vehicle. Single occupant vehicles will pay just $10 for parking. 

For more information, visit www.fltropics.com.