Segota Gets Three in Sockers’ Win
As much as Branko Segota might have wanted to avoid the topic, it was impossible for him to do so.
After scoring three goals Wednesday night at the Sports Arena to lead the Sockers past the Cosmos, 9-2, before 7,328 fans, the inevitable was brought up.
It was suggested that Segota had played like an All-Star, but all he could do was laugh and shrug his shoulders about being left off the Major Indoor Soccer League All-Star team, which was selected two days ago.
“Sure, it bothers me,” Segota said. “Some of the guys shouldn’t be there. What can I do about it? I’m not going to lose sleep about it.”
Segota is third on the Sockers in scoring with 27 goals and 20 assists, one point behind Jean Willrich.
“To me, Branko is our MVP of the first half,” said defender Kevin Crow, among five Sockers on the All-Star team. “He definitely deserved to make the team. You could say the same thing about Kazzie (Deyna) and Fernando (Clavijo). If we had eight players on the team, what do you think people would say?”
Steve Zungul, another of the Socker All-Stars, had one goal and three assists against the Cosmos, and he is tied with Chicago’s Karl-Heinz Granitza for the league scoring lead with 74 points.
Zungul has won five of the last six scoring titles.
“If it comes, I’ll take it,” he said. “If not, hey, I’ve won so many. It would be fair for somebody else to take it.”
Meanwhile, Socker Coach Ron Newman did not think Wednesday’s game was a fair match.
The Cosmos, who are in financial trouble, reportedly are close to folding.
And to make matters worse, goalie Hubert Birkenmeier suffered a depressed cheekbone in the first period. Birkenmeier, who was expected to undergo surgery Wednesday night, will be out four to six weeks.
Furthermore, the Cosmos have the league’s second worst record at 9-18. San Diego leads the Western Division by 4 1/2 games with a 20-7 record.
“I felt sorry for the Cosmos,” Newman said. “They looked so dejected. They were sitting ducks. If we had continued our early level of play, we could’ve doubled our score. It’s very difficult to hit somebody when they are down.”
The Sockers led the Cosmos 4-1 after one period, and 6-1 at halftime.
Hugo Perez contributed one goal and two assists. Scoring one goal and one assist each were Brian Quinn, Jean Willrich and Deyna. Goalie Jim Gorsek made 15 saves.
But Segota was the offensive star. Just 1:39 into the game, he scored his first goal off a Zungul give-and-go pass.
Birkenmeier was hurt at 3:34 when Willrich accidentally ran into him. He was down on the field nine minutes before being carried away on a stretcher.
His replacement, Shep Messing, had recently signed a 10-day contract to replace the already-injured David Brcic.
Quinn made it a 2-0 game at 7:38, scoring off a rebound of his shot. Willrich scored the Sockers’ third goal at 8:20, tapping in a pass from Zungul.
Finally, Wes McLeod scored for the Cosmos at 10:05. But it was 4-1 Sockers at the end of the quarter after Segota’s second goal at 13:11.
Segota’s third goal came at 7:47 of the second period, beating Messing to a loose ball in the right-hand corner. Messing accidentally kicked Segota in the stomach on the play.
Deyna gave the Sockers a 6-1 halftime lead. He scored at 9:44 off a Perez pass.
The teams traded third-period goals, making it a 7-2 game. Marc Liveric scored at 0:51 for the Cosmos, and defender Clavijo scored his fourth goal in as many games for the Sockers at 4:30.
Zungul and Perez closed out the scoring with fourth-period goals.
Cosmos Coach Ray Klivecka was upset that his team had six penalties and two yellow caution cards in the game. With 1:31 remaining, he even threw a towel and paper cups on the field.
“When you lose 9-2, officials have nothing to do with the game,” Klivecka said. “I’ll talk about the officials when we win, 5-4, or lose, 5-4.
“I’ll talk now about the Sockers. Right now, they are as good as anybody ever in this league. They are a big-time team, and they showed why tonight.”
