[June 23, 2011] Pro Soccer: Sockers top FC Dallas in friendly Tweet MIDLAND, Jun 22, 2011 (Odessa American - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Lukas Garcia was calling for the ball, the game tied and in stoppage time and the West Texas United Sockers making one final push up the field against FC Dallas. Ramon Martinez, racing down the left side with the ball after a pass from Garcia, fed the ball back to his teammate, who turned and smoked a shot from just outside the box. "I thought it was going to hit the Citibank sign," Garcia said, referencing a sponsorship sign 30 yards beyond the field. Instead, it struck the right foot of FC Dallas midfielder Bobby Warshaw, spun crazily into the air and then dipped over the frantic attempt at a stop by goalkeeper Carsten Christiansen as the Sockers earned a heart-stopping, 3-2, exhibition victory Tuesday night at Grande Communications Stadium. Wally Valdivia and Joe Munoz also scored for the Sockers, who have now won two of the three meetings at Grande against their Major League Soccer neighbors. Martinez, Dominic Furness and Monty Urias all finished with one assist each. "It's exciting," Garcia said. "When I came on it was 1-1 and then we scored to take the lead and unfortunately we got scored on. "We you play a pro team you always want to do your best, there's no point in sitting back." Ruben Luna scored on a penalty kick in the first half for FC Dallas and then Andrew Wiedeman tied the game with a diving header off a nice cross by Ravid Gazal in the 66th minute. That came just eight minutes after Munoz, after taking a pass from Urias, outran defender Boyd Okwuonu and got Christiansen on the ground with a fake and was able to carry the ball to the goal line before putting it into the empty net with his right foot. "I was coming inside and both defenders went with him (Urias), and when I saw I had the open shot, I took it," Munoz said. "I did half of it, I need the whole team to do something. "I got the ball, didn't lose my patience, stayed calm. I almost ran out of room, so I had to control the ball with my left and then shoot with my right." The Sockers found the back of the net before most of the fans found their seats. With West Texas United attacking up the right side, Furness found a wide-open Valdivia in the middle of the field, 40 yards away from the net. The Sockers' veteran wasted no time, one-timing a shot that was on net the entire way and over the outstretched hand of FC Dallas goalkeeper Chris Seitz and under the crossbar in the game's fourth minute. That's how it stood until the 30th minute, when Luna turned an aggressive charge into the left side of the box into a penalty kick when Sockers goalkeeper Leif Craddock came out to challenge the rush and collided with Luna trying to make the stop. Luna, after collecting himself, calmly slipped the ball into the lower right corner of the net on the penalty kick as Craddock guessed incorrectly and dove to his right. The Sockers, though, didn't let that slow them as they continued to pressure FC Dallas the entire night, creating several scoring chances that just didn't finish. Sockers head coach Warren Cottle, who has watched the team struggle early in the season, was encouraged with the effort Tuesday night. "I thought everybody came in and played well," Cottle said. "You are going to do that in a game against FC Dallas; the guys wanted to play well. "I think this was a reflection of the continued growth the team has made over the progression of the season and that's really what we've been looking for. I think, from start to know, we are just getting better and better." To see more of the Odessa American, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.oaoa.com. Copyright (c) 2011, Odessa American, Texas Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]