Sockers Shake It Up in Chicago Stadium to Defeat Sting, 5-4
Chicago Stadium is bratwurst and beer . . . with a little sauerkraut. It is rafters and shooters. This stadium is made for rough, tough, physical games.
Old-timers still talk about championship prizefights that took place in the ring, and in the stands.
The game of indoor soccer seems a bit out of place in a stadium that housed a Chicago Bears football game in 1932. A snowstorm forced the Bears to play inside on an 80-yard field.
Still, the tradition of Chicago Stadium came alive Friday night as 8,224 foot-stomping fans were treated to a drag-it-out Major Indoor Soccer League game between rivals from the defunct North American Soccer League.
In the end, San Diego ran its team-record winning streak to 12 games with 5-4 victory over the Chicago Sting.
The game’s intensity was reminiscent of the days when the Sockers and Sting played hard-hitting outdoor matches in front of 40,000 at Comiskey Park. Those were the days when Chicago won two of Soccer Bowls.
Now that the game is played indoors, however, the Sockers are the champions. This season, San Diego is 19-6 and five games in front of Wichita in the Western Division.
Hugo Perez scored two goals and Steve Zungul, Brian Quinn and Branko Segota added one each for San Diego. Ben Collins, Manny Rojas, Gerry Gray and Drago Dumbovic scored for the Sting.
“It is beautiful playing here,” said Sting forward Dumbovic, playing his first game for Chicago since being acquired from Minnesota. “The crowd is incredible and I love it.
“The first time when I came to Chicago two years ago, I saw all the red seats and I said this is like theater. Not movie theater, but real theater. You have to give 100% when you play in a place like this.”
The stadium was rocking in the final three minutes when the Sting continually put pressure on Socker goalkeeper Zoltan Toth.
Dumbovic and midfielder Gerry Gray scored to cut the Sockers lead to 5-4 with 2:59 to play. With 1:34 left, the Sting employed a sixth attacker to really put on the heat.
“This certainly wasn’t a run of the mill game for us,” said Sockers Coach Ron Newman. “That’s as hard a game as we’ve faced in the last 12. It’s never easy to win in Chicago. The have a good crowd and good atmosphere.”
Last season, the Sting went 20-4 at Chicago Stadium, but it has dropped to 5-6 at home and 9-15 overall this season.
“This team deserves a better fate,” Roy said.
Friday night, the Sting outshot the Sockers, 39-23, but lost. Unfortunately for Chicago, it had to play against Toth, who had 20 saves.
Also, a key goal by Karl-Heinz Granitza on a free kick late in the third quarter was nullified.
The referee ruled the ball was spotted in the wrong place, and that the whistle had blown before Granitza shot. San Diego was leading 4-2 at the time.
“That’s a goal,” Granitza said. “I’m 100% sure it was. I scored a clean goal. And it came at a breaking point in the game.”
Said Sting goalkeeper Hubert Birkenmeier: “Sometimes they seemed to be fooling around with us a little. They’re a classy team and the class of the league.”
Socker Notes San Diego owner Bob Bell said he plans to meet with Steve Zungul Monday to discuss whether the star forward has an interest in being sold to either Pittsburgh or Tacoma. “I will say the firm offer Tacoma has made is much higher than any other offer I’ve received for Steve,” Bell said.
