FRISCO, Texas – FC Dallas Reserves (5-7-1, 16 points) picked up a 2-0 victory over the Chicago Fire Reserves (4-7-1, 13 points) today on Field 1 at Toyota Soccer Center.
Both of Dallas’ French-born players, Peter Luccin and Eric Hassli scored in the win while Kyle Zobeck made several key saves to pick up the first clean sheet of his young career.
The Chicago Fire Reserves opened the match with the majority of the possession and tested Zobeck early. The Valparaiso product was equal to the task on multiple occasions. His best save came in the 14th minute when the Fire Reserves switched the point of attack to the left flank, where defender Shaun Francis joined the attack and struck a first-time left footed shot at the far post. The well placed shot looked destined to tuck under the crossbar at the back post but Zobeck recovered in time to slap the ball away and out for a corner kick.
FC Dallas Reserves began to gain some momentum and took a 1-0 lead in the 23rd minute on a free kick curled to the back post by Peter Luccin. Walker Zimmerman arrived at the last second and although he did not get a touch on the ball, he managed to cross up Fire goalkeeper Paolo Tornaghi and the ball settled into the back of the net.
The Fire Reserves’ best chance to equalize came just before the halftime whistle when the buildup found Daniel Pineda with the ball inside the area. Pineda centered a pass for another Fire player, who let the ball roll on to teammate Corben Bone at the back post. The quality combination play should have resulted in a goal, but once again Zobeck was in perfect position to deflect the shot out for another corner kick.
Chicago went up a man early in the second half when Erick was shown his second caution of the match in the 50th minute. The foul also resulted in a free kick for the Fire, which was hammered towards the far post by former FC Dallas forward Maicon Santos, but Zobeck was there to tip the ball over the bar.
Zobeck came up big again in the 63rd minute when Bone knocked a free kick 10 yards to Victor Pineda. Pineda turned with the ball and fired a hard shot, low towards the left post, but Zobeck made a diving left-handed save to keep the 1-0 score intact.
Against the run of play, FC Dallas broke out with a long one-two pass from Luccin to Danny Garcia. FC Dallas’ 11th Homegrown signing carried the ball across midfield before finding Eric Hassli open at the opposite corner of the area. Isolated against one defender, Hassli feinted right, went left and tucked a left-footed shot into the far side netting to give FC Dallas Reserves a 2-0 lead in the 75th minute.
The match was the final game of the MLS Reserve League season for FC Dallas, while the Chicago Fire Reserves are scheduled to host Toronto FC Reserves at Toyota Park Practice Field on Sunday, Oct. 20. That match is set to begin at 10 a.m.
Scoring Summary:
DAL – Peter Luccin 23
DAL – Eric Hassli (Danny Garcia, Peter Luccin) 75
FC Dallas Reserves – Kyle Zobeck, Ethan Sonis, Walker Zimmerman, Victor Ulloa, Kellyn Acosta, Danny Garcia, Erick, Peter Luccin, Diego De La Tejera (Cesar Murillo* 57), Jonathan Top, Eric Hassli.
Substitutes Not Used: Jesse Gonzalez, Troy Reeves, Patrick Khoury.
Chicago Fire Reserves – Paolo Tornaghi, Shaun Francis, Steven Kinney, Hunter Jumper, Wells Thompson (James Myall* 57), Daniel Paladini (Maicon Santos 46), Corben Bone, Logan Pause (Jeff Farina* 77), Victor Pineda, Quincy Amarikwa, Chris Rolfe.
Substitutes Not Used: Alec Kann.
Misconduct Summary:
DAL – Troy Reeves (caution) 6
CHI – Steven Kinney (caution) 22
DAL – Danny Garcia (caution) 33
CHI – Quincy Amarikwa (caution) 43
DAL – Erick (caution) 44
CHI – Wells Thompson (caution) 45+
DAL – Erick (caution) 50
DAL – Erick (ejection, second caution) 50
CHI – Hunter Jumper (caution) 84
Referee: Tyler Ploeger
Referee’s Assistants: Tom Hartlett, John DeArmond
4th Official: Jody Pinkerton
Weather: Cloudy, 70 degrees
