Las Vegas Lights FC 1 - Tulsa 1: Three Things from Cinco de Mayo

Las Vegas picked up another draw this week, this time at home to Tulsa.

Alvarez picked up an early headed goal, and we almost made it to halftime in the lead - but a well taken goal from UNLV alum Joaquin Rivas hurt his former hometown with a goal right before halftime. Here are three things from the game:

1. Not a Good Draw

Context is everything. Monday, the Lights picked up a point on the road against a great team, while playing the majority of the game down to 10 men. That was a good point. We have to be happy with that.

Saturday, the Lights picked up a point at home, in a crowded stadium, against a team below us in the table, while playing even-handed for most of the match. That is a bad point. We really should have done better and picked up all three.

2. Goals from Open Play

That isn't to say that there weren't positives to be taken - it's just that we have to look a little deeper than the points on the board.

One thing that I found really positive is that Alvarez's goal was created from open play. The Lights have picked up a lot of their goals this season (and preseason) from set pieces - whether that be corner kicks (like Huiqui's recent early goal), long throws, penalties or free kicks (like Alvarez's beauty in pre-season). And while all goals are great, and set pieces are frequently under-utilized in soccer, I'm not going to pretend I wasn't a little concerned that none of our goals seemed to come from moves in the open field.

Not so Saturday. Alvarez's opener came from a great combination of quick passes in the middle of the field - Ochoa then sprayed it wide to Diaz, who played a great one-time cross that was finished off by Alvarez, who had ghosted in front of his marker to head home.

It wasn't our only open play move of the night either - a few minutes before a great counter resulted in  point-blank shot that was saved by the Tulsa GK, and late on Alvarez almost restored the lead after a great pass and dribble.

That is the kind of soccer that people will pay to watch, and I hope we get to see more of it as our attackers become more familiar with each other.

3. The Refs... Kind of Balanced Out

Looking at just the box score, you'd be forgiven for thinking "Oh great, another red card, the Lights really need to reign themselves in." And yes, that is probably true overall - we are one of the fouliest teams in the league (2nd most fouls with 129, most yellow cards with 27), our captain will miss next game because he has already accumulated 5 yellow cards in just seven games, and our manager is currently serving a seven-game ban for "brief contact" with an official.

But that really wasn't the story tonight. Matt Thomas did get a red card in the 72nd minute, but it was one of the harshest reds you'll ever see. He came in to challenge the ball, and yes, he was late and shouldn't have lunged in, but it probably wasn't even a yellow card offense, much less a straight red.

But, on the other hand, the referee also bailed us out late on. Tulsa had the ball in the back of the net, but after a long deliberation with the linesman, the center ref ruled it out for offside. The replay is a bit inconclusive, but in real time the Tulsa player looked on to me.

So on the night, we got a harsh red card, but on the other hand, we got a bit fortunate with what could have been a late winner for Tulsa. So on balance, I'm not going to waste any time complaining (unlike Monday's offside against us, which I feel perfectly entitled to complain about).

So overall, a bit of a disappointing cinco de mayo, luchador masks aside, but at least it wasn't a loss.

Let's hope for a better result against Colorado Springs on Friday.

-VSB