Lazers’ Woes Continue as Wichita Wins, 7-2 : Its Five-Game Slump Leaves Team in the Major Indoor Soccer League Cellar
The calendar says it is Feb. 10, but the Lazers might have a hard time believing that less than two weeks ago they were healthy, playing well and, most important, trailing the St. Louis Steamers by just 1 1/2 games for third place in the Major Indoor Soccer League’s Western Division.
Today, after Sunday afternoon’s 7-2 loss to the Wichita Wings before a crowd of 3,894 at the Forum, they are, well, on a bit of a slide. Consider:
--The Lazers have lost five straight, including a 6-5 overtime decision Friday night in Chicago after leading, 5-0, with about 12 minutes to play.
--They are in last place in the division.
--Their 10-19 record gives them the fewest wins in the MISL and the worst winning percentage.
--They continue to be hurt by the absence of injured defenders Gus Mokalis (bruised ankle) and Lee Cornwell (sprained ankle). Both will be back in a week. Without Mokalis and Cornwell Sunday, the Lazers were outshot, 34-16, by Wichita, including 22-7 in the second and third quarters.
--It doesn’t get any easier. The Lazers’ next two games are at San Diego, which has a comfortable lead in the Western Division and the best record in the MISL, and at Tacoma, much improved with the recent acquisition of the league’s leading scorer, Steve Zungul.
--Leaving town may not do much good, either, since the Lazers are 2-12 on the road.
On the other hand . . .
“At the end of the day, the game is going to look like a blowout,” Lazer Coach Peter Wall said. “But it wasn’t because we gambled.”
In fact, the Lazers were in the game as late as the fourth quarter, trailing, 4-2, with 10:51 to play after Juan Cardenas scored off a pass from newly acquired Oscar Albuquerque. The score stayed that way until four minutes remained, when Wall pulled goalie Tim Harris, bringing in Batata as an extra attacker.
The move backfired, however, as Batata was called for handling the ball and the Wings’ Chico Borja, the top American scorer in the league, was given a penalty shot. Wall could have put Harris back in for that play, but it would have meant that Batata would have had to be taken out of the game for good.
Batata tried to make the save, but Borja beat him and Wichita led, 5-2. The first Lazer goal of the game, which did not come until late in the third quarter, also came in a one-on-one situation when Poli Garcia took advantage of a hand-ball call against the Wings to blast a 24-footer past Wichita goalie Jan Olesen.
After Borja’s goal, the Lazers gave up two more in the final 2:51, including one by former Cal State Fullerton star Mike Fox with five seconds left.
Although the goal by Fox had no bearing on the game, it capped what Wall sees as one of the Lazers’ biggest problems--letting down near the end of a quarter. Borja, for example, scored to make it 1-0 with 54 seconds remaining in the first half and later Al Smith went around Albuquerque and beat Harris with 1:14 to play in the third quarter.
“Today, we were really mentally dead in some situations, and that’s what cost us goals,” Wall said.
Wichita (16-14) finished with two goals and an assist from Borja and two goals and two assists from Frank Rasmussen to get a much-needed victory after having lost two in a row and six of its past seven.