Nashville 2-0 Atlanta
June 13, 1997 — Ezell Park (Nashville, Tenn.)
Scoring Summary
NASH — Luis Berbari (first half)
NASH — Jamel Mitchell (second half)
Nashville shuts out Atlanta
(Nashville Tennessean, 06.14.97)
By Jim Wyatt
Nashville Metros captain Luis Berbari probably went above and beyond the call of duty last night.
But he wanted to make a point.
Responding to his coach’s request for a more aggressive, more attacking style, Berbari sacrificed his body for the squad in a 2-0 victory over Atlanta (5-5), using a single play to deliver a message from the team.
“We want to win,” Berbari said.
Berbari made that clear early, though he wasn’t seeing things with much clarity after running into the left post after scoring the team’s first goal.
On the play, Berbari managed to get himself into position to score on a header off Mourat Dahlal’s assist, but with his body in the air, head-first, he couldn’t avoid the post. He ended up straddling it.
“All I wanted to do was get the ball — the next thing I knew I had one leg on each side of the post,” said Berbari. “But it was worth the pain because we got the goal.”
More importantly, the Metros (5-5) got a three-point victory for the win in regulation. But there’s not much time to celebrate as the Metros play at Jacksonville tonight at 6:30.
“I issued an ultimatum to the team earlier this week,” said coach Greg Petersen. “It wasn’t a threat, it’s just that we had some guys on the team who just haven’t been getting the job done.”
“I saw some positive things out there tonight and that’s good. But it’s just the beginning — we have to start playing like we’re capable of every time out.”
Nashville, in just its second three-point victory of the season, got another big game out of goalie Randy Dedini, who finished on the up-side in a keeper battle against Hendersonville resident Eddie Carvacho.
Carvacho, who played for the Metros last season, couldn’t stop Berbari’s goal in the first half, then allowed Nashville’s Jamel Mitchell to rifle a ball past him just minutes after entering the game midway through the second half.
A thunderstorm passed through the grounds of the Columbia Soccer Complex and delayed the start of the second half, but it didn’t stop the Metros in the end.
“Maybe this,” Berbari said, “will finally get us going.”
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