Disney Day 4: Controversy rules

That's me on the left.

After attending MLS broadcasting meetings yesterday and today, I found myself on the air again tonight in the fourth doubleheader of the Disney Pro Soccer Classic. Simon Borg and I called the Dallas-Orlando City game in the nightcap, a big game for me because (a) I'll be calling a lot of Dallas games this year; (b) the atmosphere is a lot better when Orlando City is playing; and (c) the teams played two tight games last year. So I was looking forward to this one, and rightly so.

The game turned on a fourth-minute play in which Orlando goalie Sean Kelley had a rough touch on a backpass and then was forced to take down Dallas forward Blas Perez in the penalty area. Everybody agreed with the foul and penalty kick, but it was the red card about which my esteemed colleague disagreed. Orlando stayed in the game for maybe 25 minutes, but Dallas pulled away to lead 2-0 at the half and win 4-0, taking control of the group. That didn't mean we weren't still talking about that red card!

As soon as we signed off for our halftime break, Simon and I started jabbering excitedly about the play. Simon, at his assertive best, said there was no way the play was a red card since it wasn't a clear goal-scoring opportunity. I argued vehemently the other way, saying that the goalkeeper was the last man and did deny a clear goal-scoring opportunity, since Perez would have had an empty net after touching past Kelley. We looked at multiple slow-motion replays and spent most of the break debating it. Then, after halftime, we brought MLS technical director Alfonso Mondelo on the broadcast to talk about the play.

With the teams combining for seven subs at the half, while we were trying to watch the replay, talk to Alfonso, and call the game, the second half became very hectic. Subs (and fouls) continued to fly, and there was even a surprise insertion not on my original roster that required a bit of hand-gesturing while we figured out what was going on. All in a night's work! In the end, Dallas won 4-0 and scored some pretty goals - taking advantage of time, space, and Orlando's fatigue - and has to be very confident heading into Thursday's game against Toronto. A win or tie will see Dallas advance to the tournament final against Vancouver on Saturday.

Hacken (0-1-1) vs. Toronto FC (1-0-1)
February 28, 2012 -- ESPN Wide World of Sports, Orlando, FL

Scoring Summary:
TFC -- Ryan Johnson 1 (Luis Silva 1, Reggie Lambe 1) 44
HAC -- Andreas Drugge 1 (penalty kick) 57
TFC -- Moises Orozco 1 (Nick Soolsma 1, Efrain Burgos Jr. 1) 85
TFC -- Joao Plata 1 (Nick Soolsma 2, Michael Green 1) 90 

Hacken -- Damir Mehic, Tibor Joza, Emil Wahlstrom, Daniel Forsell (Mohammed Ali Khan 57), Leonard Zuta, Martin Ericsson (Dominic Chatto 57), Oscar Lewicki, Jesper Westermark, Andreas Drugge (Josef Elvby 79), Maranhao (Bjorn Aklev 57), Eddie Hernandez (Rene Makondele 57)
Substitutes Not Used: Christoffer Kallqvist, Mattias Ostberg, David Marek Frolund, Dioh Williams, Andres Vasquez, Kari Arkivuo, Majeed Waris, Jonas Henriksson, Tom Soderberg, Rasmus Iversen, Hampus Andersson, Simon Sandberg.

Toronto FC -- Milos Kocic, Richard Eckersley (Michael Green 60), Ty Harden (Aaron Maund 46), Torsten Frings (Terry Dunfield 73), Miguel Aceval (Doneil Henry 66), Ashtone Morgan (Kevin Huezo 83), Reggie Lambe (Moises Orozco 64), Matt Stinson (Efrain Burgos 73), Luis Silva (Eric Avila 46), Ryan Johnson (Nick Soolsma 46), Danny Koevermans (Joao Plata 57).
Substitutes Not Used: Geovanny Caicedo, Keith Makubuya, Oscar Cordon, Stefan Frei.

Misconduct Summary:
HAC -- Jesper Westermark (caution) 14
TFC -- Miguel Aceval (caution) 23
HAC -- Tibor Joza (caution) 25
TFC -- Reggie Lambe (caution) 42
TFC -- Richard Eckersley (caution) 58
TFC -- Efrain Burgos (caution 79)

Referee: Donald Dellavia
Referee's Assistants: Claudiu Badea; Adam Garner
4th Official: Andrew Chapin
Attendance: n/a
Weather: Sunny-and-80 degrees
All statistics contained in this boxscore are unofficial

FC Dallas (1-0-1) vs. Orlando City (0-1-1)
February 28, 2012 -- ESPN Wide World of Sports, Orlando, FL

Scoring Summary:
FCD -- David Ferreira 1 (penalty kick) 5
FCD -- Fabian Castillo 2 (David Ferreira 1) 33
FCD -- Blas Perez 1 (Fabian Castillo 1, Ricardo Villar 1) 55
FCD -- Andrew Wiedeman 1 (Jair Benitez 1, Bryan Leyva 1) 89

FC Dallas -- Kevin Hartman (Chris Seitz 46), Zach Loyd, Ugo Ihemelu, Hernan Pertuz (Matt Hedges 46), Carlos Rodriguez (Bryan Leyva 83), Fabian Castillo (Jair Benitez 80), Daniel Hernandez (Victor Ulloa 76), Andrew Jacobson, David Ferreira (Ricardo Villar 46), Geoffrey Tulasne (Andrew Wiedeman 63), Blas Perez (Jonathan Top 73).
Substitutes Not Used: Bruno Guarda, Bobby Warshaw, Christian Ibeagha, Moises Hernandez, Scott Sealy, Ruben Luna, Alex Lee, Richard Sanchez, Ange Pacoma Dogba.

Orlando City -- Sean Kelley, Jerome Mechack (Justin Clark 72), Rob Valentino (Kieron Bernard 73), Wes Allen (Kyle Davies 46), Erik Ustruck, Anthony Pulis (James O'Connor 46), Don Smart (Dustin McCarty 60), Kevin Molino (Nick Sowers 81), John Rooney (Miguel Gallardo 5), Adam Mbengue (Charlie Campbell 46), Dennis Chin (Maxwell Griffin 46).
Substitutes Not Used: Luke Boden.

Misconduct Summary:
ORL -- Sean Kelley (ejection) 4
ORL -- Adam Mbengue (caution) 38
FCD -- Zach Loyd (caution) 48
FCD -- Ugo Ihemelu (caution 53)
ORL -- Dustin McCarty (caution) 79
FCD -- Carlos Rodriguez (caution) 82

Referee: John McCloskey
Referee's Assistants: Brian Dunn; Scott Kachmarik
4th Official: Yader Reyes
Attendance: n/a
Weather: Clear-and-75 degrees
All statistics contained in this boxscore are unofficial