Tonight, the Dallas Sidekicks reach the halfway point in their season, playing their 12th game of the season in Week 11. As it’s been a bit since the last Sidekicks article (with not much to write about), here’s a brief update of how the season has progressed.
To put it lightly, it’s all gone horribly wrong. (If perhaps predictably.)
The Sidekicks sit dead last in the Western Conference, still, and sit at or near the bottom in nearly every category. They’ve got the lowest-scoring offense, they’ve yet to win on the road, they’ve won just twice all season, and their goal differential is 31 goals worse than the next-worst team. Arthur Ivo and Lipe de Andrade are the only two Sidekicks to reach double-digit points so far, with Ivo leading the team with just 10 goals.
The defense, after losing several key players to Mesquite, has given up 85 goals so far, and generally left keeper Juan Gamboa out to dry. Off the field, attendance is down 22% compared to last season’s average, leaving the Sidekicks 14th in the league. It’s bad.
Tonight’s opposition, the Florida Tropics, are unlikely to make things any better. The Tropics lead the Eastern Conference with an 11-1 record, with the best defense and second-best offense in the league. Florida’s star attacker, Ricardo Carvalho, is one of the most dangerous men in the league and combined with the goal-scoring trio of Victor Parreiras, Zach Reget, and Matt Clare, expect the Tropics to come out blazing.
It’ll take a miracle for the Kicks to win this one, especially if they want to keep any slim playoff hopes alive. That said, the Western Conference is absurdly top-heavy this season, with just 2 teams boasting winning records, and it might only take 7 or 8 wins to sneak in as a 4th seed. A few wins in upcoming matches against Eastern Conference opposition might actually earn Simon Bozas his first playoff appearance.
Tonight’s game kicks off at 7:35 p.m. at the Allen Event Center. If you can’t attend in person, the game will be streamed, like every other MASL game, via YouTube.