Sockers Top Tacoma in Overtime to Move Closer to First Place
Njego Pesa scored 5:54 into overtime as the Sockers beat the Tacoma Stars, 5-4, Friday night to keep alive their hopes of winning another Western Division title.
San Diego (24-18) trails West-leading Tacoma (25-16) by 1 1/2 games with 10 to go--including one more game with the Stars April 18 in the San Diego Sports Arena.
Pesa’s winning shot, a 30-footer from the left side that deflected off defender Ralph Black and through the hands of Tacoma goalkeeper Joe Papaleo, ended a roller-coaster of a game that featured goals in the first minute of each period--three by San Diego--and four lead changes.
Friday’s game was only the latest in a string of close ones between the Sockers and Stars. The Sockers have won the last three, taking a 3-2 lead in the series--all five games decided by one goal, three in overtime. San Diego’s last eight victories have all been by one goal.
Tacoma has lived by the close ones this season, also--15-7 in one-goal games and 7-2 in overtime--but is only 2-3 and 1-2 against the Sockers.
The banged-up Sockers suffered another casualty last night, an apparent ankle sprain by captain Jean Willrich.
The Sockers led, 3-1, after Pesa dribbled home his 18th goal 16 seconds into the second half, but the lead quickly melted away in a bizarre four minutes:
--At 5:25, Socker defender Brian Schmetzer blocked Joe Waters’ shot, but the rebound went directly to Preki at the right point. Preki cut loose before Jim Gorsek could recover. 3-2.
--At 7:13, Preki outraced Gorsek to a ball in the right corner and centered a pass. A Socker defender was the only one there, but the ball bounded off his shin and into the open goal. 3-3.
--At 9:06, Ralph Black let fly from 50 feet out at the left point. The ball hit Gorsek in the chest, slipped from his hands and dribbled into the net. 4-3, Tacoma.
However, Branko Segota scored his 31st goal from the right corner as the final quarter was beginning to tie the score, 4-4. The goal came 14 seconds after the Sockers thwarted the Stars’ league-leading power play for the second time in two tries.
Segota had a four-point night, including an assist on Pesa’s game-winning goal, to give him 71 points for the season and leave him only one point short of 500 for his MISL career.
Waad Hirmez scored his 16th and 17th goals--giving him an MISL career-high 26 points--as the Sockers rallied to take a 2-1 lead at halftime.
Segota set up Hirmez both times, and Gorsek, virtually helpless when Gerry Gray scored only 33 seconds into the game, made seven saves to blank Tacoma the rest of the half.
San Diego pulled even for the first time early in the second quarter when Segota stole the Stars’ kickoff to set up a 2-on-1 counterattack with Hirmez. Segota made a diagonal run to the right, stopped when he reached the penalty area and slid a soft pass to a wide-open Hirmez for an easy tap-in at the left post.
On the go-ahead score, Segota hammered a pass off the glass to Hirmez, who was posted up to the right of the Tacoma goal. Hirmez faked inside, then wheeled around Gray and fired a left-footed bullet that caught the left side of the net at 10:19.
Defensively, the Sockers failed to gobble up a loose ball that turned into Gray’s goal but did little else wrong. They killed off Cha Cha Namdar’s tripping penalty in the first period, and Gorsek made saves on drives by Preki and Ricky Davis to preserve the 1-1 tie that Hirmez later broke.