Sockers Fall Short of Record in 9-5 Loss
The wear and tear of playing four games in seven nights in four different cities finally caught up with the Sockers on Tuesday night. They suffered their most lopsided defeat of the season while being beaten by the Minnesota Strikers, 9-5, before 4,295 fans at the Met Center.
San Diego had won eight straight games, including the last two in overtime. With a win against Minnesota, the Sockers would have set a team record for consecutive victories.
“We weren’t really into playing,” Coach Ron Newman said. “The last two games in overtime took their toll. I thought it would only be a matter of time before this happened. I’d rather have it happen now than against Las Vegas.”
The Sockers return home on Saturday night to play Las Vegas, the second-place team in the Major Indoor Soccer League’s Western Division. San Diego (33-10) leads the Americans by 5 1/2 games.
At halftime Tuesday, the Sockers led Minnesota, 4-3. However, the Strikers took control with five unanswered third-period goals. Newman pulled goalkeeper Jim Gorsek after the five goals, replacing him with Zoltan Toth.
The Socker defense was missing four injured regulars--Gary Collier, Eric Geyer, Paulo Moura and Brian Schmetzer.
“Let’s face it,” Newman said. “We have been living on borrowed time in back. What do you expect from us with all of the injuries?”
Hugo Perez, who missed Sunday’s game at Wichita with a bruised foot, scored four goals against Minnesota. Steve Zungul scored the other, his 63rd of the season.
The Sockers were playing without Branko Segota, their second-leading scorer. Segota was forced by MISL rules to miss the game because he had accumulated 20 penalty minutes on the season. Brian Quinn must miss the Las Vegas game because he, too, has 20 penalty minutes.
San Diego gained its halftime lead against Minnesota on the strength of three early goals by Perez, two on power plays. But after Perez gave the Sockers a 4-3 lead at 9:06 of the second quarter, they did not score again until Perez connected 35:20 later. By that time, Minnesota had a 9-4 lead.
Alan Wiley scored three goals for Minnesota, two in the third quarter. Drago Dumbovic gave the Strikers the lead for good, 5-4, on a goal at 3:56 of the third quarter.
Minnesota (20-22) outshot the Sockers, 33-26. The Strikers had lost their two previous games against the Sockers in San Diego by scores of 10-2 and 5-2.
