FC Dallas midfielder Aaron Pitchkolan has seen action in all four of his team's games so far this season. Of course, in each of those contests, he has been a second-half substitute, but the man known as "Pitch" will take his playing time any way he can get it.
Currently in his second MLS season, both spent with the Hoops, Pitchkolan played in 20 games as a rookie last year, earning the starting nod in 15, scoring three goals and adding one assist. This all came after being drafted 23rd overall in the 2005 MLS Suplemental Draft after a solid career at West Virginia University.
In Sunday's game against Kansas City, the Hoops needed someone to answer the bell after the Wizards tied the game at 1-1 in the 92nd minute. As he did a number of times in his somewhat surprising rookie season, Pitchkolan once again filled the role.
Pitchkolan had entered the game as a substitute in the 75th minute for leading scorer Kenny Cooper, who scored the Hoops' first goal of the game in the fourth minute. Then two minutes following the Wizards' equalizing goal, Pitchkolan and K.C. defender Jose Burciaga Jr. collided near the center circle after Pitchkolan knocked the ball away from another Wizards player, immediately reacting after he had been dispossessed in the midfield.
Pitchkolan chased down the ball at edge of the penalty area, essentially collecting his own deflection before sending a blistering shot inside the near post that beat Wizards goaltender Bo Oshoniyi to again give FC Dallas the lead.
He immediately knew the magnitude of his first tally of the season.
"It just got a lucky bounce off a defender," he said. "I put the ball on goal and luckily, it went in. It was a good break after giving up a bad goal late in the game after being up 1-0."
Just a few seconds later, the final whistle blew and the Hoops had their third win of the season, leaving them a perfect 3-0 at Pizza Hut Park. They also had a new hero in Pitchkolan.
Hoops head coach Colin Clarke was relieved and proud at the same time.
"Thank goodness for (Aaron) Pitchkolan," Clarke said after the win. "He is a player that has been around for over a year now and did very, very well for us last year. He comes on, is an honest kid, works hard and today, got an added bonus, which is great."
Pitchkolan was a little philosophical about his first goal of the year.
"It (my first goal) was great," he said. "It's tough not starting, coming off the bench and not knowing if you're going to play. When you get an opportunity, you've got to make the most of it. Luckily, the ball fell for me today and we were able to get three points out of it, which is the most important thing."
The second-year midfielder followed up his first team outing of 20 or so minutes by playing all 90 minutes of the reserve game, which began less than an hour after the final whistle had sounded in FCD's 3-2 win against the Wizards.
Forgive Pitchkolan if he was a little tired at the end of the evening.
"I'm pretty winded," he said. "Most of the guys know going in that we have a reserve game after. If you play in the first team game, you know you're probably going to play 90 minutes in the reserve game. It's still soccer, so it's fun."
Steve Hunt is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
