Lazers Get the Breaks in 4-2 Win

Coaches and players might insist otherwise, but indoor soccer is a game of luck rather than skill.

Unlike the outdoor game, where luck is a factor perhaps 10% of the time, indoor soccer, at least as it is played in the Major Indoor Soccer League, thrives on the odd bounce of the ball.

Skill plays a part, certainly, but luck--good, bad and indifferent--is what separates the teams a large portion of the time.

Take the Los Angeles Lazers, for example. Luck has not been running the Lazers’ way so far this season. Coming into Thursday night’s game against the St. Louis Steamers, the Lazers had lost 12 of their first 18 games.

Things weren’t expected to go much better against the Steamers, who came in with a 10-10 record, and perhaps this is why only 3,580 fans showed up at the Forum.

But luck is fickle, and on Thursday night it decided to change sides and for once favor the Lazers. The result was a 4-2 victory for Coach Peter Wall’s team.

Although the Lazers never trailed, the win was not as clear-cut as the score would indicate. The Lazers scored early and late, all four of their goals coming in the first and last quarters.

Beto, the Lazers’ Brazilian midfielder, got things started just 30 seconds into the game when he slammed the rebound of his own shot past St. Louis goalie Ed Gettemeier.

At 9:38 of the first quarter Lee Cornwell made it 2-0 when he raced virtually the length of the field before putting the ball past Gettemeier. Having built a slender lead, the Lazers settled down to protect it. They did so successfully until 9:05 into the second quarter, when Steamer forward Nebo Bandovic volleyed a shot past Lazer goalie Mike Mahoney from close range after a scramble in front of the Lazer goal.

The Lazers held a 2-1 halftime lead, but St. Louis tied the score just 2:46 into the second half when Jeff Cacciatore eluded the Lazer defense and fired the ball past Mahoney, who appeared to have been screened on the play.

The game remained tied until well into the fourth before the Lazers struck again. This time it was Canada’s Greg Ion who scored after the Lazers’ Willie Molano had worked the ball downfield and seen his shot rebound out to Ion.

The goal at 9:34 was followed less than a minute later by the Lazers’ fourth, and again Ion was involved. His shot rebounded off the glass and was headed into the open net by Poli Garcia to make it 4-2.