Sockers Still Don’t Have Opening Roster Set

SAN DIEGO —  With their opener scheduled Thursday night in Dallas (5:30 PDT, San Diego Cable Sports Network), the Sockers are still three players short of the roster limit of 16.

One spot has been held for former Socker Paul Wright, who has taken his new team, the Baltimore Blast, to arbitration in a quest for free agency. A ruling is expected Thursday. Final arguments were made Tuesday.

Socker Coach Ron Newman also is hoping to bring back another former Socker: midfielder Brian Quinn, who is under contract to U.S. Soccer. Quinn, however, might be able to fit in as many as 33 indoor games between his national team commitments.

The latest addition to the Sockers’ roster is Sean Bowers, a native San Diegan who made it through tryouts. He was signed Tuesday.

Bowers’ signing hardly counteracts several deletions of late.

Second-year defender David Banks and first-year midfielder Alex Khapsalis from the Soviet Union may miss Thursday’s game because of visa problems, and midfielder Paul Dougherty is in England trying to get his visa squared away. He is expected to meet the Sockers in Dallas on Thursday.

In addition, with 20 seconds to go in Tuesday’s practice, defender Ben Collins went down with a knee injury and Newman said he is “very questionable” for Thursday’s opener.

The roster must be set by 10:30 this morning, Newman said.