Sockers Beaten by One Again : Losing Streak Goes to 3 After Cleveland Manages 3-2 Victory

One by one, members of the San Diego Sockers are growing concerned about the team’s losing streak, which has reached three straight.

The Sockers suffered their third straight one-goal setback Friday night as the Cleveland Force managed a 3-2 victory in front of 8,039 fans at the Coliseum.

Sockers Coach Ron Newman appeared concerned in the somber San Diego locker room afterward. “This losing by one goal is getting a bit ridiculous,” he admitted, “but it isn’t because we didn’t have our chances. We just ran into a very hot goalkeeper and he killed us.”

Newman was referring to Cleveland’s Chris Vaccaro, who was credited with only nine saves on 22 San Diego shots, but who also robbed the Sockers with a brilliant fourth-quarter performance.

“Those two saves he made on us down the end were magic, at least for Cleveland,” said Newman. “They clearly decided the winner.”

Craig Allen’s 13th goal of the season, at 3:28 of the third quarter, was the game-winner. Allen received a pass from Pat Ercoli in the midfield and dribbled into the attacking zone where he beat Sockers goalie Jim Gorsek with an 18-foot shot.

“You couldn’t fault their goalie on that one,” said Allen. “In fact, you couldn’t fault him at all. He was just as brilliant as Chris tonight, maybe more so. I felt that we clearly had more chances than San Diego and that Gorsek kept them in the game.”

The Sockers led, 1-0, as Brian Quinn scored the only goal of the first quarter, taking a pass from Branko Segota on the end of a two-on-one break just 2:34 into the game. The breakaway came about as Force defender Joe Raduka got caught in an attacking position and was unable to catch Segota, who dribbled two-thirds of the field after stealing the ball.

The Force tied the score on Ali Kazemaini’s power-play goal at 9:34 of the second quarter, assisted by Vaccaro. The Sockers were a player short after committing their sixth foul of the quarter.

Cleveland took a 2-1 lead just four seconds before halftime as Carl Valentine scored his first Major Indoor Soccer League goal, rebounding his own missed shot on a breakaway.

The Sockers wasted little time in tying the score, however, as Steve Zungul converted a pass from Jean Willrich off a restart 33 seconds into the second half. The goal left Zungul four short of becoming the first player in MISL history to score 500 career goals.

Cleveland, 6-5 after its second straight victory, outshot the Sockers, 31-22. Gorsek, who was replaced in goal by sixth-attackers Kevin Crow and Fernando Clavijo in the final 4:12, made 18 saves on 30 shots.

The Sockers (5-5) play the Comets tonight in Kansas City, trying to snap their longest losing streak since dropping three in a row in December 1982.