Sockers Lose 6th Straight at Baltimore

The Sockers could not exorcise the demons. Again.

San Diego’s trip into the Twilight Zone, better known as the Baltimore Arena, resulted in a 7-3 loss Sunday to the Blast in front of a crowd of 10,102.

Baltimore (14-9) was led by two goals each from forwards Drago and Keith Furphy. Jean Willrich, Waad Hirmez and Jacques Ladouceur each had a goal for the Sockers (13-11).

The Sockers’ loss was the sixth consecutive regular-season setback to Baltimore in this arena, which is one of the smallest in the Major Indoor Soccer League.

The last time the Sockers won a game here was in the 1984-85 championship series, when they won Game 4, 14-2.

Sunday, the Sockers never gained momentum. Baltimore’s on-again, off-again offense was on early in the first and fourth periods as San Diego never led in the game.

Baltimore scored three unsettled goals in the first three minutes of the game and held a 3-1 lead at the end of the first period.

The Sockers still had a good chance to come back, but they also had to battle the short field and the positioning of the benches.

“It’s very hard to say how we played because we haven’t played here in a while and it definitely had an effect on our team,” Socker Coach Ron Newman said. “It’s been a while since I’ve played on a field this small with the obscene positioning of the benches.

“We had trouble with line changes and getting the ball off the boards. We never got in rhythm. They jumped out in front because they play here all the time. They know about the positioning of the benches.”

Blast Coach Kenny Cooper has heard the complaints before. “Other teams have learned to play us and beat us here,” Cooper said. “I just thought we were a little better today.”

Baltimore scored four of its goals off the fast break and beat San Diego’s forwards down the field. The Blast’s transition game, coupled with the below-par performance of Socker goalkeeper Jim Gorsek, kept San Diego in the hole.

Gorsek finished with 16 saves, but most of those came late in the game, after the damage had been done.

“I think we left our team back in the hotel,” Socker forward Juli Veee said. “We definitely were sleepwalking in the third period.

“Plus, we have some new people we are working in the lineup and we’re trying to find the right scoring combination. . . . Man, we’re down, 3-1, early and it’s hard to come back in this arena. We played fairly well in the last three quarters, but it was too late.”

The Sockers got deeper into the hole when Furphy scored his second goal with 4:56 left in the half to give the Blast a 4-1 lead. But San Diego rebounded with a blistering 30-foot shot from Hirmez with 27 seconds left in the half.

The Sockers climbed within two goals, 5-3, on a shot by Ladouceur with 11:13 left in the third period, but then Drago took over.

Drago scored both his goals in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter as Baltimore, which outshot the Sockers, 34-29, dominated the rest of the game.

After the game, Veee was asked if the field made a difference. “Ron has won five titles,” Veee said. “If he said it made a difference, then it made a difference.”

FIRST PERIOD: 1. Bal., Savage (3) (Chinapoo), :19. 2. SD, Willrich (13) (Hirmez), 1:07. 3. Bal., Furphy (12) (Ronson), 1:22. 4. Bal. Thompson (2) (Stankovic), 2:42. Penalties--None.

SECOND PERIOD: 5. Balt., Furphy (13) (MacKenzie), 10:04. 6. SD, Hirmez (9) (Segota). Penalty--Namdar, SD (tripping), 2:00.

THIRD PERIOD: 7. Bal., Chinapoo (17) (Drago), :46. 8, SD, Ladouceur (5) (Clavijo), 4:47. Penalties--None.

FOURTH PERIOD: 9. Bal., Drago (18) (Ronson), 2:41. 10. Bal., Drago (19) (Chinapoo), 4:17. Penalties--Stankovic, Bal., (kicking), :06; Gorsek, SD, served by Coker (tripping), :18; Segota, SD (boarding), 4:54; SD bench, served by Coker (sixth foul), 12:35; Child, Bal. (serious foul play), 14:16.

SHOTS ON GOAL: SD 4-9-11-5--29. Bal 9-10-9-6--34. Att--10,102.