One Second Is Difference as Lazers Lose

The Lazers held the San Diego Sockers’ offense scoreless for all but one second of the final 40 minutes 3 seconds of the game Friday night. But that one second was the difference.

Hugo Perez’s left-footed goal with one second to play in the first half gave the Sockers, the defending Major Indoor Soccer League champions, an eventual 3-2 victory before 10,233 fans.

Perez took a pass from Juli Veee and slid a bouncer into the far corner of the net. At the time, it gave the Sockers a 3-1 lead.

“I called a timeout with four minutes to play to tell the players not to give up a late goal,” Lazer Coach Peter Wall said. “It’s a lack of concentration. We can’t seem to concentrate for 60 minutes.”

Added Wall: “After shouting and screaming in the locker room at halftime, I was OK.”

So were the Lazers, who outshot the Sockers, 19-11, in the second half and 29-22 in the game. Defender Gus Mokalis scored both goals for the Lazers (0-2), and goalkeeper Tim Harris made eight saves on 21 shots.

Socker goalkeeper Zoltan Toth made 16 saves on 29 shots as his team raised its record to 2-1. Defenseman Kevin Crow scored the Sockers’ first goal, and Perez added the final two.

San Diego opened the scoring at 4:57 of the first quarter on a right-footer from inside the penalty box. Goalkeeper Tim Harris tired to catch Branko Segota’s pass off the boards, but the ball slipped through his fingers and Crow knocked it in.

Mokalis tied the game late in the first quarter on a bouncer from just to the right of the penalty area.

Perez scored both Socker goals in the second quarter. The first came on a left-footed shot from the left corner.