The Blast’s Civic Duty : Sockers Are Winless on Baltimore’s Field

Regardless of circumstances, nothing has stopped the Sockers over the past four years. They have won championships whether healthy or hurting, whether there has been team unity or not.

Yet, they have never won a game in Baltimore’s Civic Center, and that is the challenge at hand. In the past two years, they have visited six times and come away with six losses.

With a 2-0 lead in the Major Indoor Soccer League championship series, the Sockers will be trying to expand their advantage in back-to-back games here. They meet the Blast at 4:35 p.m. today and at 10:35 a.m. Saturday.

“You have to put it into realistic perspective,” said Scott Manning, Baltimore goalkeeper. “If they have never won here before, time is on their side.”

However, a number of things seem to work against the Sockers in Baltimore:

The field. It is only 175 feet long, 25 feet shorter than most fields.

Bad luck. The Sockers have lost their last four games in Baltimore by one goal.

The crowd. Baltimore fans are among the league’s most vocal, and so is the public address announcer.

The team benches. Baltimore’s is centered, and provides more rapid access for easy substitution. The visiting bench is closer to the end.

Ron Newman, the Sockers’ coach, concedes that a number of factors work against his team, but concluded that the size of the field itself will most directly impact the Sockers’ style of play.

“The size can be an advantage to the team that always plays on it,” Newman said. “It’s the same as having the correct height on your glass. If yours is a different size, you’re used to the ball coming back a different way. Little tiny things like that become evident, especially early in the game.”

Baltimore uses the field to its advantage by always dropping its five field players back on defense.

“On a smaller field like ours, San Diego is not allowed to play its style,” Baltimore’s Dave MacWilliams said. “When the Sockers spread teams out, they can take ‘em apart. They play well with the space they have in San Diego. What happens here is that we’re used to the field, and we use it to our advantage.”

The home field has always been an advantage in the Socker-Blast rivalry. Baltimore’s only win in eight games at San Diego came this season by a 6-3 score.

The Sockers lost at Baltimore twice this season, 6-5 and 5-4. The other four defeats in Baltimore were during the 1982-83 season, the Sockers’ other MISL season.

“When they beat us here earlier, we had a lot of injuries and a tough schedule,” Branko Segota said. “They had a little bit of luck on their side.”

Segota was not with the Sockers when they lost the four games at Baltimore in 1982-83, including two in the MISL championship series.

“We haven’t had any balancing luck here,” Newman said. “We’ve been knocking on the door here for so long that two things can happen. We could get blown out or win a close game, neither of which has happened here before. We have to put this baby to bed. You can’t keep on losing here unless you’re not any good. We’re not that bad of a team.”

Baltimore’s fans seem to bring out the worst in even good teams. Joe Fink said the fans helped turn the game around when Baltimore scored five unanswered fourth-quarter goals to beat Cleveland, 7-4, in the deciding game of their semifinal series.

“We have great fans who really motivate us,” Fink said. “Our building is one of the smallest in the league, and the fans help us play with a lot of emotion and intensity here. That’s what we lacked in San Diego.”

Newman is not concerned as much with the fans as he is with the location of the benches. He asked to change benches at halftime the last time the Sockers were in Baltimore, but the Blast refused.

“That’s his problem,” said Kenny Cooper, Blast coach. “It wasn’t designed to be that way. It needed to be that way to get more seats in. It’s not important to me, so I’m not concerned about it.”

Newman was so concerned that he complained to the league office in February. He’s still complaining, but his protests have not been answered.

“When I tried to find out what was going on, I discovered there were no rules for benches,” Newman said. “It’s almost like having no rules for a shootout. You could make the visiting bench as small as you like. You could nail their doors shut, or you could leave nails sitting on their bench. We could put the visiting team in the penalty box at home because nothing says you can’t do it.”

But the Sockers’ biggest concern tonight will be breaking a losing streak that has haunted them for four seasons.

Socker Notes

Defender Mike Stankovic (sprained ankle) and midfielder Bernd Holzenbein (bruised ribs) of Baltimore are expected to play for the first time in the series tonight. Forward Paul Kitson (sprained ankle) may not be able to play unless there is a Game 5 in San Diego, and defender Max Thompson (torn knee ligaments) will miss the remainder of the series. . . . Commissioner Francis Dale, who missed the first two games in San Diego, attended a press conference Wednesday. Some reporters speculated that Dale avoided San Diego because he had taken a shootout win away from the Sockers for using an ineligible shooter in Game 4 of their semifinal series against Minnesota. Dale said that he had “very important business” last week. According to league sources, Dale was helping to save a Las Vegas team that reportedly lost in excess of $3.5 million this season. “Despite rumors, I had other pressing business,” Dale said. “It had nothing to do with a decision I made. If you know me, you know that I don’t go ducking things like that.” . . . Steve Zungul has 16 playoff assists, four shy of the MISL record set by Baltimore’s Stan Stamenkovic last year. . . . Jim Gorsek has a 2.42 goals-against average, lower than the standing record of 2.50 set by Pittsburgh’s Krys Sobieski in 1982. . . . Today’s game will be simulcast by KLZZ 600 and Channel 51.