WEST VALLEY -- Two days ago Utah Freezz forward Lee Edgerton didn't know if he'd be able to play soccer Friday night, let alone score half his team's goals against the league's defending champions.
It was Edgerton who scored and scored and scored -- three times total -- including a critical goal with just 1:47 remaining, giving the Freezz a 6-5 victory over the Dallas Sidekicks.The 25-year-old pulled his right calf muscle in a collision during practice Wednesday. He didn't practice Thursday, and Coach Dave Poggi said he asked him about the injury and his ability to play right before Friday's game.
"I asked him, 'If this was a championship game would you play?,'" Poggi said. The chance to beat the defending champions, who'd won their last two games, was apparently too much for Edgerton to resist.
"It felt O.K.," he said after the game. "It bothered me at the very beginning. . . As the game went on it got warmer and I started feeling a little more confident." Poggi has a plan for their next tough game. "I'm going to kick him in the other leg next week."
Friday night's contest in front of more than 7,500 fans was unusual for indoor soccer because of the relatively low scoring. Poggi said both teams were very tough defensively and had excellent goal keepers.
Utah's Stuart Dobson had 20 saves, four of which came when two Freezz players were in the penalty box for delay of game. Dallas' Edilson "Sagu" Xavier had 22 saves. Dallas had 44 shots on goal, while Utah had 32.
"I feel if I can limit a team to five goals, then we should win every game," Dobson said. While the Freezz were worried about the league's leading scorer and most famous player Tatu, Dobson said they looked at him tonight as more of an "assist man," not the one to score.
"Our main goal was to get the runners coming off Tatu," Dobson said. Dallas' first and last goals were set up by their coach, who also plays forward for the Sidekicks. The last goal by John Olu-Molomo came with 2:55 left in the game from a Tatu pass from the corner.
It tied the game and could have broken the spirit of the younger and more inexperienced Freezz players.
"We showed some heart, a bunch of rookies," said Utah midfielder Beau Brown, who played with the Sidekicks last year. "It's one of the greatest feelings I've had."
Utah also beat Dallas in an exhibition game earlier this year.
They fly to California for a Saturday night game against Sacramento Knights.