Sluggish Sockers Lose to Cleveland, 7-3

The Sockers rarely get blown out of a game. And when they do get blasted, they usually start blasting one another.

Well, the Sockers looked confused and slow in being routed by the Cleveland Force, 7-3, in front of 13,132 fans in the Richfield Coliseum Saturday night.

And the finger pointing has begun.

“We have players who are not committed,” Socker Coach Ron Newman said. “We may have to make some changes. . . . We’re too slow. Maybe it’s the age creeping up on us. I’m not happy with a lot of the older players’ efforts. They tried hard tonight, but there was no sharpness in their game. . . .

“There is not enough effort from the skilled players. There is a lot of effort from the lesser-skilled players.”

On Saturday night, the Sockers trailed, 3-2, at halftime but lost the game when they gave up three goals in the third quarter to the Force.

Force midfielder Kai Haaskivi had a hat trick, Peter Ward scored two goals and Gino DiFlorio and Dennis Meapham added one apiece. For the Sockers, Fernando Clavijo (a defender who is tied for second in team scoring with four goals) had two goals and Jacques Ladoucer added one.

The four-goal deficit was the worst regular-season defeat for San Diego since it lost to the Strikers in Minnesota, 9-5, on March 26, 1985. That spans 60 regular-season games.

This season, San Diego is 3-3, with two of its victories coming in overtime against weak teams. The Sockers have yet to be really sharp.

“It was reality tonight,” Newman said. “We can’t play like we did last night (a 4-3 overtime victory over the expansion New York Express Friday) and expect to get a win.”

Playing their second game in two nights, the Sockers, who perhaps were tired, regularly blasted shots into the stands and got caught off guard on defense.

“Maybe we caught radiation in New York and that’s why we’re passing the ball to players wearing jerseys with different colors,” Socker midfielder Juli Veee said.

“Something is missing,” he added. “We don’t click. Everyone feels confused. It’s shameful the way we pass the ball.”

It has been a particularly tough start for Socker forward Branko Segota. The team’s leading scorer last year hasn’t scored in two games, has just three goals and five assists in six games and is having difficulty fitting into the offense.

“Branko has a confidence problem,” Newman said. “If he could just get one or two goals.”

Said Segota: “Certain players have certain roles and they’re not doing them. Everybody is going to score. When it comes time to run back, it’s ‘you go, you go.’ ”

Segota is on the verge of signing a multi-year, million-dollar contract but said he doesn’t feel that has distracted him on the field.

“It (contract situation) affects me a little,” Segota said, “but that wouldn’t change the way the team is playing. I can do only so much. Other players have to make their runs too. Everybody is waiting and standing.”

The Force players are waiting and withholding judgment on the 1986-87 Socker team, which they face in San Diego Wednesday night.

“The Sockers have a habit of punishing you,” Haaskivi said. “They’ve shown that year after year.”