April 17, 2006

DALLAS, Texas - Wake Forest men's soccer recruit David Murphy helped the Dallas Texans get past Santos Laguna, 4-2, in the 2006 Dallas Cup SuperGroup championship match. The Texans were the first American team to win the SuperGroup since it started in 1990.

Murphy started in the back for head coach David Hudgell and earned Defensive Player of the Game.

The following story ran in Monday's Dallas Morning News.

By STEVE DAVIS

FRISCO - The Dallas Texans under-19 group can add a historic Dallas Cup crown to a résumé already draped with glory.

The Texans became the first United States team to prevail in the Super Group, claiming the prize in the Dr Pepper Dallas Cup's elite division Sunday with a 4-2 win over Mexico's Santos Laguna at Pizza Hut Park.

William Dworsky registered three assists as the Texans, under manager David Hudgell, rallied from two early deficits. Dane Saintus scored twice.

The same basic group of players won the U.S. Youth Soccer under-17 national championship last summer. In the Dallas Cup, only two U.S. teams and one Dallas team had even advanced to the Super Group title match. (Both clubs lost in the final.)

The annual youth tournament first included a Super Group division in 1990.

Sunday's win also completed a clean sweep for U.S. teams, who won all seven group titles this year. That has happened once before, in 1986, when the tournament included only four age groups.

The Texans' Jonathan Villanueva scored once and assisted on another goal in a free-flowing first half that saw the Texans fall behind 1-0, then 2-1.

Juan de Dios Alvarado scored for Santos in the third minute, but the Texans' Saintus redirected Villanueva's free kick two minutes later for a 1-1 tie. Santos responded on an eighth-minute Froylan Roldan strike.

But Dworsky fed Villanueva a perfect through ball in the 17th minute, which he converted for a 2-2 tie.

Another clever pass from Dworsky provided the Texans' first lead in the 41st minute. Andre Akpan took Dworsky's perfectly weighted chip and finished easily for the 3-2 margin.

Saintus clinched the game 65 minutes in after getting the ball from Dworsky and hammering a short-range shot through the goalkeeper's legs.

On defense, captain David Murphy and fellow center back Omar Gonzalez limited Santos' chances after the early goals.

"Coach told us we could do it if we took a professional attitude about everything," said Murphy, a Wake Forest signee. "To win a tournament like this you have to prepare mentally and physically like professionals."