Nashville 1-0 Orlando
August 23, 1997 — Ezell Park (Nashville, Tenn.)
Scoring Summary
NASH — Jamel Mitchell (58′)
Metros are playoff bound with victory over Sundogs
(Nashville Tennessean, 08.15.97)
By Harold Huggins
At the final buzzer, coach Greg Petersen got hugs from his players, trainers and everyone in sight.
On the most noteworthy night in their first A-League season, the Metros clinched a playoff berth with a 1-0 win over the Orlando Sundogs. It came last night before 2,650 happy fans at Columbia Soccer Complex and left Petersen with tears of joy.
“We deserve to be there, these guys have pulled together as a team throughout the season,” Petersen said. “And it isn’t always the guys who make the pretty plays, but it’s everyone on the team.”
“Yes, I’m a little emotional right now. I just want to thank this classy organization. I’ve been given every opportunity to win.”
As has been the case so many times, even as recently as Friday night’s 1-0 win at Atlanta, it was Jamel Mitchell’s goal and air-tight goalkeeping by Randy Dedini, who racked up his 11th shutout, which paved the way for victory.
“This has been our goal since day one,” Dedini said. “It feels great for our team to clinch, and Jamel came through once again. And again, our defense was great.”
Mitchell didn’t play in the first half because of his season-long battle with asthma. He entered the game with 37 minutes left in the second half, wasted no time, banging in his team-high 17th goal with 32:20 left. It came on an assist by Myles Stoddard.
An unofficial assist would go to forward John Smith. Smith, a former Orlando player, let the pass from Stoddard slide underneath his foot, faking two defenders out and leaving the right side of the net wide open for Mitchell, who banged it past Sundog goalie Marcos Machado.
“This made my day,” said Smith, of Manchester, England, whose prior team was eliminated from the playoffs with the loss. “As for the playoffs, we don’t care who we’re playing, but whoever it is better be worrying about us. This was a great night for us.”
“Myles gave me a nice ball, John let it go under him, and it was wide open,” said Mitchell, who had four of the Metros’ 11 shots. “It feels so good to make the playoffs, it’s something we’ve worked hard for.”
The Metros (17-10) don’t know who their playoff foe is yet, but they may open Sept. 3, followed by a Sept. 6 game, following the regular-season finale against California here next Saturday night.
Orlando fell to 10-16.
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