Sidekicks’ Late Goals Stun Sockers
SAN DIEGO — It happened quicker than you could say “Branko Segota looked pretty healthy tonight, didn’t he?”
The 9,289 fans at the San Diego Sports Arena Saturday were shouting up a storm, relishing what appeared to be a two-games-to-none lead in this best-of-seven Major Indoor Soccer League playoff series.
Then things quickly changed. And now, when the Sockers hop the plane for Dallas Thursday, they will be tied in this series, 1-1, thanks to a late Sidekick rally that gave them a 5-4 victory.
What happened? Ask the Sockers.
“We didn’t play 60 minutes, they did,” defender Kevin Crow said. “I think it was a lapse of concentration. I didn’t think we were together.”
And?
“I thought we could have calmed the game down,” said midfielder Waad Hirmez, who had two goals and an assist. “You give them a little smell, and they’re going to take advantage of it.”
Segota had the same totals as Hirmez Saturday. He has been out with a strained hamstring and gone through buckets of ice, hours of rehabilitation and a few hesitant stutter-steps in the opener Wednesday. It appeared for three quarters Saturday that he was returning to form. Then, a sign of rust.
With the Sockers leading, 3-2, Segota received a wide-open pass from Zoran Karic and pushed it left of the goal. Few could believe it, least of all Socker Coach Ron Newman.
“I was amazed when I saw it come out on the other side of the goal,” he said.
It was Segota who gave the Sockers a 3-1 lead in the third quarter, scoring his second goal of the night off a pass from Hirmez. Karic advanced the ball down the center of the carpet and passed left to Hirmez. Karic wound up tangled with Sidekick defender Wes McLeod in front of the goal, and both went down. The ball slipped by them, and Segota finished.
But after Hirmez scored his second goal of the evening, giving the Sockers a 4-2 lead early in the fourth quarter, the roof fell in.
Richard Chinapoo scored. Sockers 4, Sidekicks 3.
McLeod scored. Sockers 4, Sidekicks 4.
Michael King scored. Game.
Sidekick Coach Billy Phillips had already been thinking about the standard desperation measure, putting in a sixth attacker. No need.
“We changed some things at halftime, and we got lucky and put the ball in the net,” he said. “Momentum is really important in playoff time. Every game is like a war.”
So what happens to the Sockers’ momentum now? How are they looking, riding the heels of this loss to Dallas for three games?
“We’re going to be a little upset, but I don’t think we’re going to be down,” Hirmez said. “It’s always a shocker emotionally after the game. Tomorrow it will be different.”
Past Socker teams have been in this situation before and rebounded. This, Crow said, we’ll be a good test for this team.
“In the past we’ve always risen above it,” he said. “We’ll see what we can do.”
The first half wound down happily for the Sockers, with the tune “Danger Zone” playing and Hirmez slapping high fives with the fans after scoring the go-ahead goal. The Sockers led, 2-1, at the half.
Since the departure of Juli Veee, Hirmez has taken over the spirit-lifting duties, conducting crowd noise with a wave of his hands.
Hirmez took a nose dive on the Sockers’ first legitimate scoring opportunity of the second half, tripping over Sidekick defender Mark Powers after barely touching a length-of-the-carpet pass from Nogueira. He was assisted off by Socker trainer Bill Taylor but returned minutes later.
San Diego opened the scoring in the first quarter when Steve Zungul fought his way through several Sidekick defenders near the boards left of the goal and passed to Segota, who drove it in left-footed. The ball nicked off the arm of goalie Joe Papaleo.
The Sidekicks tied it in the second quarter, Mark Karpun drilling a shot from short range through the legs of goalie Victor Nogueira. Tatu assisted.
Socker Notes
Goalie Victor Nogueira picked up his first playoff victory as a Socker in Wednesday night’s 7-4 victory over Dallas. Nogueira, the MISL goalie of the year, has three career playoff victories, his last coming with the Chicago Sting in 1985. Saturday, Nogueira got the first big cheer from the crowd when he came out of the penalty box to kick the ball the length of the carpet into the hands of Dallas goalie Joe Papaleo. . . . Tacoma defeated host Wichita, 5-4, in the third game of the best-of-five wild-card series. Wichita leads the series, 2-1. The winner will play Baltimore, which finished first in regular season play.
