By Phil Cerroni

FCD 3, HOU 2

FC Dallas faced off against long-time rival Houston Dynamo in a heavily contested home game on Mar. 17, filled with brute physicality and flashy goals.

FC Dallas head coach, Schellas Hyndman, made some key switches in his midfield line for this game, deciding to move Kenny Cooper from forward to right midfield where he could harry the other team alongside “Super Raton” (Mighty Mouse) Blas Perez. Hyndman also moved Michel from defense to center midfield to anchor the Blas-Kenny smash brothers.

The new midfield line worked well as existing midfielder Andrew Jacobson meshed with Michel and Cooper fit nicely into his new role.

“I think we all want to find the Kenny that left here,” Hyndman said. “That’s the Kenny we remember; that’s the Kenny we worked awfully hard to get back.”

With possession split almost 50/50 during the physical first half, both teams hustled for possession of ground balls and fought over headers, and the rough game play made it contentious whether or not players were diving or actually being fouled. It was Dallas who eventually exploited the unsettled situation, scoring two goals late in the half. Defender George John scored the first, followed a minute later by a goal by Andrew Jacobson off David Ferreira’s corner kick.

The fact that FC Dallas scored both these goals of set plays is a significant accomplishment as Houston is known for its ability to control the ball in the air.

“One of the most dangerous scores in soccer is 2-0,” Hyndman explained. “You put it a little on cruise control … and …the opposition comes in and ends up scoring 1. They have the momentum; they have the belief; you just lost your mental strength. It’s hard to turn it back on, and normally you’ll see a second goal come, and it happened today.”

FC Dallas found itself in a similar situation when they played Chivas USA in 2012. Dallas scored first, only to give up 3 goals later in the game. Hyndman said that a large portion of their training since then has been focused on keeping the game close when they have that type of lead.

“We went too far forward [against Chivas]. We got too many people going forward, and [that] gave us problems on the counterattack and not enough support in the back,” he said.

Going into the second half, Houston adjusted their formation to counter Dallas’ powerhouse midfield and managed to shut down Dallas’ offense while penetrating their defense for two quick scores of their own. Houston’s Andrew Driver scored 19 minutes into the second half, bouncing his shot off the top post and into the goal. After the play, Dallas goal keeper, Raul Fernandez, was sprawled on the turf inside the goal. It was only a minor setback, and after a trainer came out he was able to continue in his position for the remainder of the game.

Houston’s second goal was the product of a chaotic situation when Fernandez came out of the goal to block a shot by Houston forward, Cam Weave. However, Fernandez’s successful block set the ball up perfectly for midfielder Brad Davis who sent it high into the back post even though FC Dallas defender, Zach Loyd, did his best to cover the goal while Fernandez was out.

With less than a minute left on the clock, a quick pass to Cooper in the center opened him up to score the game’s winning goal for a final score of 3-2, Dallas. What ensued was a blitzkrieg by the Dynamo in a desperate attempt to tie the game in the match’s remaining seconds, but Fernandez, ready and recuperated, ensured that it was a futile effort.

The win over Houston makes Dallas’ record 2-1, giving them positive momentum for their Mar. 23 match vs. Real Salt Lake. Houston left the match 1-1.

By Jess Paniszczyn 

On a gloomy January day in 2008, three teenage friends drove down a lonely stretch of wet road. In a few panicked moments, the driver lost control, the car struck a telephone pole and a precious life was lost.

Happily, the ending of Jerry Frank Hux II’s life, aka ‘Bubba,’ does in no way define it. A vivacious 17 year old junior at Nimitz High School, Jerry loved his friends, his family and sports.

A Nimitz baseball player from 2006-2008, Jerry wore number 00 while playing center field and catcher. Before the Nimitz and Irving High School baseball game began on March 12, Jerry’s family, friends and teammates were joined by the evening’s players and fans in honoring his memory. Members of the Nimitz varsity team wore 00 on shirts under their jerseys and 00 on their helmets. Coach Robert Mendoza presented Jerry’s parents with a crystal baseball. And a permanent five foot baseball memorial was dedicated in left field to Jerry’s memory.

“The boys know what it is. It is very humbling for them to see that and to remember that there is more to life than just baseball. You really should be careful," said Shannon Buffington, a member of Nimitz Baseball Booster Club.

“You should always remember a teammate when something like that happens, no matter when you play. Most of the boys who play baseball now don’t know who Jerry was, because they never played baseball with him. But he is still a teammate.

“The Hux family was very happy. It was the first time they had been back to the stadium since Jerry passed away. There were probably 400 people there last night. Of those, 200 were Jerry’s family and friends.

Click here for the full story.

By Phil Cerroni

0-6, 6-2, 7-6

The ATP Dallas Tennis Classic was well into round 2 of main draw play when veteran German athlete, Matthias Bachinger faced off against 20 year old American, Denis Kudla in an exciting, neck-in-neck contest.

The first set went completely in Bachinger’s favor with a final score of 6-0.

“He didn’t miss a ball,” Kudla said. “I don’t know much about him, but I expected him to miss a bit.”

Besides Bachinger’s strong play, Kudla did not take the initiative, playing a mainly defensive game that left his backcourt relatively open.

Despite his slow start, Kudla quickly took the lead in the second set with powerful shots and managed to keep it with aggressive play. He spent the set wearing Bachinger down, always ready for both his volleys and short lobs. Set score: 6-2.

“That’s what I based my game around, being physical. If I’m not in my top shape, I don’t win matches,” Kudla said. “I kind of somewhat modeled my game after Ferrer – be the machine out there and the game will take care of itself. I know I’m not the most talented guy out here, but if physically I can control that and be in the best shape possible, I will.”

The young American’s athleticism shone when, after a long rally, he chased the ball across the baseline and, while still facing away from Bachinger, executed a 270 degree forehand stroke for a pretty, if somewhat lucky, score.

By the third set, both players were quick on their feet, and 40-40 trading advantage was common. Compensating, Kudla added looking for the empty spaces to his high operational tempo, and despite faults and Bachinger’s intelligent, basics-oriented play, Kudla pulled through with 6-6 in the set and 6-4 in the tiebreaker.

The match point was beautiful forehand shot that looked like it would go straight to the baseline, bounced over the sideline in the vicinity of the hash mark, instead.

Part of the reason, Kudla was able to mitigate the damage from what was sometimes sloppy offensive play was his ability to consistently plug the holes in his defense.

“When you’re aggressive and coming like that, you’re going to get the lobs, you’re going to get the overheads, so for the most part it’s what I was expecting,” Kudla explained.

Kudla has a healthy fear going into the third round but enough confidence to turn it into a weapon and not a liability.

“I’ve had kind of a little bit of a rough start to the year,” he said. “I came in the qualifiers, not taking a wild card and trying to get some matches under my belt. I’m just happy that I can get these wins out of the way against really good players – 7-6 in the third nail biters.”

Madison Pressel of the University of Texas and Casey Grice of the University of North Carolina are co-champions of the North Texas College Shootout with scores of even-par 71 at Las Colinas Country Club. The players each earn a sponsor's exemption to play with the best professionals on the LPGA tour at the North Texas LPGA Shootout at Las Colinas Country Club, a member of the ClubCorp family of clubs, April 22-28. 

"This is a great opportunity for me to play with the pros," said Grice, a junior at UNC. "I'm a native of College Station [Texas], so I was excited to see the LPGA return to North Texas. I figured this event would be on a course set up longer than we usually play, so I practiced with my longer irons and that really paid off."

Pressel is the younger sister of LPGA star Morgan Pressel.

"Being able to play my first round in an LPGA tournament with my sister will be awesome," said Madison Pressel. "I had to sit out for five months with a torn labrum, so playing this well in a competitive round really gives me some confidence heading into the finish of the college season and looking ahead to Q-School."

Mocio and Ruzickova are teammates at Texas A&M and have earned the opportunity to play in the LPGA Monday Qualifier on April 22 against a field of professionals competing for two spots in the LPGA tournament proper. Mocio carded a 73 and Ruzickova finished with a 74.

The North Texas LPGA Shootout will be held April 25 to 28 at Las Colinas Country Club. The 144-player official money tournament is the Tour’s first in the North Texas region in more than 20 years. 

Source: North Texas LPGA Shootout