Sockers Lose to Baltimore on Late Goal

In the eyes of Baltimore Coach Kenny Cooper, Friday’s match between the Sockers and Blast at the Baltimore Civic Center was like a good heavyweight championship fight.

For 59 minutes and 55 seconds, the defending North American Soccer League champion Sockers and the defending Major Indoor Soccer League champion Blast fought to a draw. Then, with five seconds left, Baltimore’s Mike Stankovic delivered the knockout punch.

He beat goalkeeper Jim Gorsek from 30 feet out to give the Blast a 5-4 win in front of a sellout crowd of 12,523.

“This was like the Thrilla in Manila,” Cooper said. “It was a fantastic game. It was like a 15-round heavyweight fight being determined in the last round.”

All night long, the teams were as even as could be. The Sockers had leads of 1-0 and 2-1, but Baltimore tied the game each time. Baltimore had leads of 3-2 and 4-3, but the Sockers tied the game each time.

In essence, San Diego simply did not have time to come back after Stankovic’s game-winning goal.

“We’re not going to lose many games if we play like we did,” Socker Coach Ron Newman said. “In this atmosphere, it’s difficult to get anything.”

The Sockers have yet to win in six lifetime appearances at Baltimore. The Blast was winless in five games at San Diego until beating the Sockers on Jan. 17, 6-3.

Baltimore (18-6) has won 13 of its last 14 games and possesses the best record in the MISL. San Diego (18-7) has won four of five and has the league’s second-best record.

Stankovic, a defender better known for his offense, took a pass from Richard Chinapoo in the game’s final seconds, shot right-footed around Jean Willrich and caught the upper-right corner of the goal.

“I stayed in front of him, then he made a move,” Willrich said. “I went to block the shot and missed by 10 inches. It was a nice goal. There was nothing I could do about it.”

It was Stankovic’s second goal of the night and 24th of the year.

“I don’t want to be cocky, but I think I can finish the game,” Stankovic said. “They were playing a zone, and I have a great shot.”

Gorsek: “The guy hit a good shot into the upper corner. He came to the top of the box and hit the ball. I couldn’t get to it.”

Actually, Gorsek got to a lot of balls he probably shouldn’t have. Five of his 17 saves were on third-period shots from point-blank range.

“Sometimes, you have to make those saves to keep your team in the game,” Gorsek said. “I just wish I could have saved one more.”

Only 1:17 into the game, Steve Zungul made a shot that Baltimore goalkeeper Scott Manning could not save. Zungul took a Willrich pass off the boards and kicked it into the lower-left corner of the net.

Baltimore’s Paul Kitson tied the game at 4:22 with a 40-foot shot. Kaz Deyna gave the Sockers a 2-1 lead at 9:18 of the second period, kicking in a loose ball in front of Baltimore’s net. Pat Ercoli tied the game for the Blast with a goal only 1:07 later.

Baltimore took its first lead, 3-2, on Stankovic’s first goal at 1:10 of the third period. Fernando Clavijo tied the game for San Diego 1:15 later off Brian Quinn’s assist.

Bruce Savage provided Baltimore with a 4-3 lead at 2:07 of the fourth period, scoring off Bernd Holzenbein’s corner kick. Hugo Perez of the Sockers tied the game at 5:30 of the period, stealing the ball from Ercoli and scoring from 25 feet out. Deyna had a chance to give the Sockers the lead midway through the period, but Manning made a good foot save.

If the teams meet in the playoffs, the home-field advantage goes to the team with the best regular-season record. Should they have identical records, Baltimore would get the advantage because of its 3-0 season record against San Diego. The Sockers beat Baltimore, three games to two, in the MISL championship series two years ago.

“We have proven we are on a par with San Diego,” Cooper said. “I don’t want to say we are better than them, yet.”

Socker Notes

As has become customary lately, Ron Newman was upset with the officiating. The Sockers had 11 fouls to Baltimore’s 10, and they had the only two-minute penalty of the night. “(Mike) Stankovic was pounding people like it was a rugby game, and he never got called for a foul,” Newman said. “I don’t know where he comes off doing that.” Jean Willrich: “Stankovic was fouling people all over. The referees never saw it. It was unbelievable.” . . . Newman also complained about the location of the teams’ benches. He said they were designed so that Baltimore players could get on the field quicker when line changes were being made. “I’ll appeal that to the league,” Newman said, “but I doubt if it will change anything.”