If for no other reason, the Utah Blitzz should make the jump to the A-League next year simply so they can avoid the Wilmington Hammerheads.
The Hammerheads beat the Blitzz 2-1 at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, eliminating Utah from the Pro Select League semifinals for the second straight year.
"We just couldn't find a good formula today," said Utah coach Chris Agnello.
In many ways, it was a game of thirds. The first third was an evenly played match in which Wilmington scored in the 10th minute, and then again 30 seconds before halftime. The second third was a crazy 35-minute stretch in the second half in which Utah pushed virtually everyone forward in a desperate attempt to rally.
The final third was an even more bizarre 10-minute sequence that resulted in two red cards, and a time-bomb referee.
"This (ref) indeed had a difficult time with the match, as you could see by all the cards," said Agnello. "I bet their coach would agree, and he even won."
Sure enough, Wilmington coach David Irvine said, "That ref was like a little time bomb waiting go off."
The game started peacefully enough, with both sides well aware of what was at stake. The league had all but assured that the winner would host next week's championship to be televised on Fox Sports World.
The Hammerheads struck paydirt first on a 24-yard free kick in the 10th minute. As Jeff Johnson chipped the free kick toward the back post, 6-foot-3 defender Kevin Nylen was able to sneak behind Adolfo Ovalle's mark and head the ball past Chad Sackett.
While Agnello disputes the initial foul, there was definitely animosity between Ovalle and Sackett after the goal. The rule of thumb is that any cross that enters the six-yard box, the keeper must own. The combination of Ovalle losing his mark and Sackett staying on the goal line was bad news for Utah.
"You just can't give up an early goal, and we did, and we had to chase," said Agnello.
Wilmington keeper Billy Platz made several brilliant saves throughout the first half to preserve the shutout, and in the final 30 seconds of the half, his team earned a little insurance goal on Johnnie Keen's tally.
Now the pressure was really on Wilmington's flat-back defense. With nothing to lose, Agnello started attacking with three forward in the second half, which included Rich Breza moving from defender to striker.
Whether it was subbing in Ariel Bravo, Glenn Puckrin, Junior Gonzales or Shane Curran, none of the combinations Agnello came up with worked.
"I thought their defense was fantastic," said Agnello. "They did a good job of keeping us out and not allowing us to get good chances."
That was until about the final 30 minutes, when the ball was in Utah's offensive third about 80 percent of the time. In one sequence, the Blitzz had a half dozen straight corner kicks sandwiched between a few free kicks.
Utah's best scoring chance of the match came on a 64th-minute free kick by Matt Evans that seemed destined for the upper right-hand corner of the net. As a helpless keeper looked on, Hammerhead defender Tim Karalexis headed the ball off the line.
"They were throwing everything at us but the kitchen sink," said Irvine.
The game took a turn for the worse in the 80th minute when Wilmington's George Corrie and Utah's Glenn Puckrin collided while going for a head ball. As both players got up, the ref whistled the foul on Puckrin. As he complained to the ref, Corrie shoved Puckrin. It was a silly mistake that resulted in his second yellow card and an ejection, which means he'll miss the championship match.
Nine minutes later, Corrie was joined by teammate Nylen, who was slapped with a questionable red card on a somewhat breakaway foul on Breza.
As Nylen walked to the locker room, Utah's Kiko Medina scored in the 89th minute to cut the deficit to 2-1, but the Blitzz were unable to get an equalizer in four minutes of stoppage time.
"We came back at them hard," said Agnello.
With the loss, the Blitzz fell to 1-3 in semifinal games. Their only victory came in 2001, when they won the national championship.
E-mail: jedward@desnews.com