CARROLLTON, Texas—A visit by Tyler Threat FC in the second game of the Premier Arena Soccer League season was a bit of a misnomer for Dallas-based Soccer Studio.
All of the legitimate threat, you see, came from the home team.
Studio treated the usual packed house at American Indoor in Carrollton to a near-flawless first half and didn’t concede a goal to Tyler until late in the fourth quarter, easing to a comfortable 16-4 victory on the strength of two-goal performances from Franck Mbemba, Daniel Dobson and captain Patrick Shamu.
The reigning champions of the PASL—which is the official developmental league for the Major Indoor Soccer League—thus take a 2-0-0 record into their first road game this Saturday when they travel south to face the Austin Amp’d.
With home victories over the DFW Tornados and Tyler, Studio enters the weekend showdown with Austin sporting the only 100-percent record in the PASL’s South Central Division. Austin is in second place after two games, sitting two points behind Studio with a win and a draw.
Studio maintained its hold on first place by dominating possession against Tyler and exploiting its significant edge in experience. Each of the aforementioned goal scorers, for example, have impressive credentials on their resumes: Mbemba played professionally for several years in Europe before an MISL stint with the Kansas City Comets; Dobson went straight from the University of Memphis to the Kansas City Wizards in the MLS; and Shamu ranks as one of the most popular players in the history of the Dallas Sidekicks, one of the MISL’s perennial powers for two decades and still regarded as a local institution.
Shamu now has a team-best five goals in two games. Tyler also conceded goals to Garrett Gable and Jamie Harrigan, with Harrigan and Dobson tied for second in team scoring with three goals each.
The overall team defensive performance, meanwhile, so suffocated Tyler that Studio goalkeeper Joe Wagner scarcely touched the ball. The lone blemishes for Studio were wasteful finishing—too many good scoring chances were squandered—and two late breakdowns that gifted the visiting Threat with two consolation goals.
“We controlled the game from start to finish,” said Studio manager Roderick Scott, another Dallas Sidekicks alumnus who earned five senior caps with the Canadian national team in his playing days.
“It was a professional performance. But we lost a bit of concentration at the end and I have spoken to the boys about that. We have a lot of work to do in that area. Our biggest challenge this season will be living up to our high standards with no regard to the score or the team we’re playing. We need to maintain our standards and intensity for four full quarters and we haven’t done that yet.”
This is the 10th season for the PASL, which has 53 teams spread among 10 divisions in the United States , Canada and Mexico . It’s the largest indoor soccer league in the world and uses MISL multi-point scoring rules, with goals scored inside the red line counting as two-point goals and goals scored from beyond the red line counting as three-point goals.
Studio won the PASL’s International Championships last March in Mexico .
DEC. 8, 2007
THE SOCCER STUDIO 16, TYLER THREAT FC 4
STUDIO GOALS: Dobson 2, Mbemba 2, Shamu 2, Gable 1, Harrigan 1
STUDIO LINEUP
5 Franck Mbemba
6 Jonathan Knowles
7 Garrett Gable
8 Stephen Ambrose
9 Ezequiel “Willow” Alvarez
12 Thomas Harju
13 Jamie Harrigan
14 Jon Waters
15 Justin Clark
16 Juan Sastoque
18 Patrick Shamu
19 Derlys Aguilera
23 Turk Akturk
25 Daniel Dobson
GK Joe Wagner
GK Adam Wozniki
For more information, visit www.thesoccerstudio.com or www.arenaleague.com
Dec. 9, 2007 Studio vs Tyler
