Sockers Can’t Slow Wings, 5-4

Coach Ron Newman was asked if the addition of midfielders Dave Hoggan and Neill Roberts made the Wichita Wings more of a threat to his Sockers.

A logical question, especially considering that while the Wings have added two quality players, the Sockers dropped one, selling MISL career scoring leader Steve Zungul to Tacoma.

“How many games behind were they when we lost Zungul and how many are they behind now?” asked Newman.

The Wings were 5 1/2 games behind San Diego when Zungul went north almost five weeks ago.

After a 5-4 victory over San Diego Sunday, the Wings trail the Sockers by seven games.

“There you go then,” said Newman.

But if any team is to keep the Sockers from winning a fifth straight indoor soccer championship, it just may be the Wings, who with Hoggan and Roberts have a touch of nasty.

The Wings, 22-17 and winners of four straight, have superb goal-scoring, led by Dane Erik Rasmussen, who scored three against San Diego Sunday. The performance gave Rasmussen 55 goals, tops in the MISL.

Hoggan had the other two Wichita goals, including a 90-foot chip shot into an open net that gave the Wings a 5-3 lead with 1:35 left.

Although Roberts did not figure in the scoring, he and Hoggan typified the Wings’ performance, a running, grinding, physical effort that led them to only their second victory in 13 games against San Diego.

That type of physical play has been missing in past games against San Diego.

“They’re both good, aggressive players,” said Newman. “You need strength in the indoor game.”

“We’ve got the confidence now,” said Rasmussen, whose power-play goal with 5:40 remaining snapped a 3-3 tie. “We’re playing very well right now.”

Branko Segota had four goals for San Diego, 29-10. It was Segota’s second consecutive four-goal performance.

“It’s technique,” said Segota, shrugging off the goals.

What Segota and the Sockers were interested in was beating the Wings. A victory Sunday would have clinched the Western Division championship for the Sockers.

“You could see we were tired out there,” said San Diego’s Juli Veee, who set up Segota for two goals, including one from the right side with 1:17 remaining.

The Sockers were winding up a four-game road swing, and they looked a bit sluggish.

Although the Sockers led 2-0 through the first 44 minutes, they were outplayed, especially in the first half.

Wichita had a 26-10 advantage in shots in the first half, and three times in the opening 30 minutes the Wings bounced shots off the goal post behind the Sockers’ Jim Gorsek.

“He was unbelievable in the first half,” said Rasmussen, who finally beat Gorsek with a left-footed blast with just 33 seconds left in the third period.

The Sockers, the MISL’s most penalized team, then got burned by the Wings’ power play.

Hoggan’s first goal came 1:24 into the final period. The Sockers were a man short because of sixth foul committed by Jean Willrich with just one second left in the third period.

Segota and Rasmussen then traded goals, before Rasmussen finished his hat trick at 9:20.

On that goal, he spun away from defender Waad Hirmez in the right corner and rifled a high shot over Gorsek.