Miami FC defeated the San Francisco Deltas 3-1 in the final game of the Spring Season. Here are three things we learned:

1) Poor refereeing ruined a good match

All any soccer player can ask for is to have a referee that consistently officiates a game. On Saturday night lead official Alejandro Mariscal spectacularly failed to do so.

Throughout the first thirty minutes, the game was a contested affair but not dirty in any way. In fact, it seemed as if the referee was allowing physical play, including a two footed tackle by Christian Portilla, without any cards.

Mariscal started to interject himself more into the match later in the first half. He interrupted play three times to talk to players on two corner kicks and a throw-in. Then in the 40th minute, Deltas forward Pablo Dyego went clumsily into a tackle of Miami’s Richie Ryan. The foul did deserve a card but to the disbelief of many Mariscal pulled out the red card. After several minutes of arguments from the players about the call, he also gave a red card to Kyle Bekker on the bench for dissent.

It is not the first game Mariscal has controversially handed out two red cards. Last summer in an MLS match between the San Jose Earthquakes and Toronto FC Mariscal ejected two Earthquakes players.

The red cards, unfortunately, titled the scales towards Miami FC and ruined what had been to that point an exciting, and surprising even, game.

2)The Deltas showed they can compete with Miami

After being dismantled the previous week by Miami FC away, San Francisco came into the final home match of the Spring Season with something to prove.

Even after dropping down a man and giving up two other goals the Deltas continued to fight and had a handful of chances late in the match. Their hard work was rewarded with a Tommy Heinemann header from a lovely cross by Andrew Lubahn.

The 3-5-2 formation that Dos Santos employed appeared to clog up some of the holes in the defense that Miami exploited in their first matchup. They also did a better job of pressuring the midfield and not allowing Miami to be comfortable on the ball. In the second half, the Deltas pressure rattled the South Florida’s defense and showed that they are vulnerable to a team that can test them in the back.

The positive lessons San Francisco learned are valuable because they will play Miami FC three times in the Fall Season.

3) It still was an incredible first half for the expansion team

Despite two losses to end the Spring Season, it was an impressive first half for the San Francisco Deltas. The first-year side finished in second place with a record of seven wins, five draws, and four losses.

The team was not an offensive firepower by any means, but they played well defensively as a unit and were able to score goals at the right moments to win or get a draw.

The Deltas also had a nice run in the US Open Cup defeating the USL’s Phoenix Rising FC before falling to the San Jose Quakes (who are still alive in the competition).

The NASL playoff race is shaping up to be five teams fighting for the three remaining playoff positions. The Deltas only stand six points above sixth place Indy Eleven. Jacksonville Armada, the other surprise team in the league, finished third. The New York Cosmos look to be rounding into shape with Emmanuel Ledesma scoring goals. North Carolina FC has been a Jeckle and Hyde team but has a ton of attacking talent. Indy Eleven seems to have put a disastrous early start to the season behind them and finished with a five game unbeaten streak which includes four victories.

“[The Spring Season} showed us how difficult this season is going to be. The first part showed how difficult and competitive this league is,” said Dos Santos. “It’s going to be a fight until the end for the four playoff spots. We learned a lot in the first part of the year.”

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OTHER NOTES:

– San Francisco will have a two-week break between the NASL Spring and Fall Seasons. Their next match will be July 30th away to the Jacksonville Armada. They then return to Kezar Stadium to play the New York Cosmos at home on August 5th.

– Both Pablo Dyego and Kyle Bekker will miss the first game of the Fall Season because of their red card ejections.

– The Deltas will continue to train throughout the break, but the players will have the upcoming weekend off.

– Dagoberto started training with the team in practice and will be available for selection starting in the Fall Season.

– The San Francisco Deltas finished with an average home attendance of 2419 through the first eight home games. Their largest crowd was the opening match against Indy Eleven with 4133.