New Sockers Help Fill Void, the Net Against Blast

SAN DIEGO —  As it turns out, those stiffs the Sockers signed to fill voids left by defections during the off-season are shouldering the credit for the team’s early success.

The Sockers, traditionally slow starters, beat the Baltimore Blast, 7-2, in front of 10,293 at the Sports Arena Sunday.

Compare their record of 2-2 to last year’s more traditional 1-5 start and .500 never looked so satisfying.

Even though veterans like Paul Wright (two goals, one assists), Paul Dougherty (a goal and an assist), Brian Quinn (a goal and two assists) and Jacques Ladouceur (a goal and an assist) led the way on offense, afterward they all deflected attention to the new guys.

Meet Tim Wittman (ex- of Baltimore), Terry Woodberry (four years with Dallas) and Thomspson Usiyan (a six-year indoor veteran). They all have one thing in common: Desire.

“All these new guys around here are like I was when I first started,” Wright said. “None of them want to be part of the team that breaks the streak.”

The streak is nine championships in 10 years.

It wasn’t only Sockers finding inspiration in their new teammates. Blast Coach Kenny Cooper also was impressed with the Sockers’ latest arrivals, although not so much for the spark-plug personalities, but rather for their fuel-injected demeanor.

“They have a lot of speed,” Cooper said. “Tremendous speed. And with Timmy (Wittman) coming to San Diego is good for them. He’s going to lift them. He plays hard.”

A lone dissenter was Sockers Coach Ron Newman, who tried to blame Quinn for his team’s cohesion.

“Quinny was unbelievable out there,” Newman said. “He just controlled everything. They couldn’t handle him. He was everywhere like a buzz fly.”

Predictably, Quinn, one of Newman’s few remaining antagonists, did not agree.

Quinn never was one to accept praise.

“We have a lot of good players here again,” Quinn said. “Every year we start the with two or three new players who bring in a real hunger for a championship and they get everybody else going. They want to perform and they keep everyone competitive.”

Newman said things are competitive in practice, with players who have yet to suit up for a game making bids to do so.

“There are a lot of players pushing in practice,” Newman said. “Players like Alex Khapsalis, Zico Doe and Scott Geraghty.”

But Newman is not one to tinker with something that isn’t broken. And Sunday’s lineup simply clicked.

“I am very pleased with the way we are working,” Newman said. “It’s like they’re a unit already, even with all the new players. We didn’t give Baltimore much chance to get anything going. We stole the ball so much from them; we worked so hard.”

Much of that hard work was getting done by Woodberry, Wittman and first-year indoor player John Kerr, all of whom spent the evening pestering Baltimore ball-handlers.

“I am a bit disappointed,” Cooper said of his team’s play. “Everyone wants to do so well, we just started forcing things. We have to learn to play under control and not frantic.”

The Sockers were playing frantically. But then youth will do that to a team.

“We seem to have more than our share of younger players than we have had in the past,” said veteran defender Kevin Crow. “And they made the preseason that much more competitive. They’re younger, so naturally they’re in good shape. They run harder and make everyone else run harder and that’s a healthy environment to be in.”

The Sockers’ frantic play is tempered by the remaining veterans.

“Players like (goalie Victor) Nogueira, Quinn and Crow are a solid foundation,” Cooper said. “They’re like glue to this team.”

Added Crow, “We have a solid team. We believe in ourselves, and, of course, (the return of) Paul Wright and Brian Quinn made a big impact offensively.”

Another Sockers veteran wanted to add a word of caution.

“We’re starting to put things together,” Dougherty said. “It’s only a two-game winning streak, which is better than a two-game losing streak, I suppose. Hey, the new players have come in and blended in very well, so things are happening a bit early this time.

“But maybe it’s too easy to draw conclusions, too.”

Other Sockers who got into the scoring included Kerr, who scored the game’s final goal; Ben Collins, who put one past sixth-attacker goalie Billy Ronson; and Wes Wade, who finished with two assists.

Sockers Notes

The Sockers honored two former stars, Jean Willrich (1980-87) and the late Kaz Deyna (1981-87), by retiring their numbers during a 30-minute ceremony at halftime.

Willrich’s No. 15 and Deyna’s No. 10 joined No. 22, worn by Juli Veee from 1980-88, as the only three hanging from the Sports Arena rafters.

The Sockers’ first owner, Bob Bell, returned to the Sports Arena for the first time since stepping down before the 1987 season to take part in the occasion.

“These are three of the greatest players ever to play this game,” Sockers Coach Ron Newman said. “And they made my job that much easier because they set the standard. All I have to do is keep it going.”

Sockers defender Kevin Crow, who began his career in 1983, told the crowd about one of his first memories of Deyna.

“One thing I remember from when I first started playing was Kaz drilling into me, ‘You’ve got to concentrate, Kevin.’ And he would say that as he was passing the ball through my legs to Jean or someone. ‘Concentrate Kevin, concentrate.’ ”

Willrich took the opportunity to thank the man who brought him over here from his native West Germany to play, initially, outdoor soccer.

“When I came to the U.S. in 1978, these were my parents,” Willrich said of Bell and his wife, Gerrie. “They took care of me. I would like to say thanks to Bob Bell and Gerrie. . . . I’m so nervous I don’t no what else to say. I am very honored, I am stunned. To the fans I would like to say without you it would not have been possible to win any of these championships.”

Waad Hirmez, a Socker for seven seasons, returned to the Sports Arena for the first time since leaving during the off-season. Hirmez had built a bond with Sockers fans before moving on following a contract dispute and now he’s trying to do the same in his new home.

“There really hasn’t been much of a chance, though,” Hirmez said. “The first home game we were out of early. The second game was the same night as the seventh game of the World Series, so we only had 6,000. But they sounded like 12,000.”

Hirmez scored the winning goal in that one, a 4-3 victory over Tacoma, and went into his routine of jumping on the boards and walking along the glass, exchanging high fives with the crowd.

“It was almost the same feeling I would get when I was here,” Hirmez said.