Sockers Steal One at Tacoma : Pesa and Willrich Score Late Goals for 6-5 Victory

“What a steal!” Socker Kevin Crow said.

“We sure stole that one,” said Socker Jean Willrich.

“It’s a gift,” Star forward Steve Zungul said.

Trailing by two goals entering the final quarter, the Sockers rallied for three goals--two in the final three minutes--for a 6-5 victory over the Tacoma Stars Friday night at the Tacoma Dome.

The Sockers lead the best-of-seven Western Division finals, 1-0. Game 2 will be played at the Tacoma Dome Sunday night.

Willrich--playing with two very sore ankles--scored the game-winner on a right-footer from the top of the circle with 2:14 to play. The ball hit the lower left corner of the goal and went in off the post.

“There was one man in front of me,” said Willrich. “I took him on. Had a shot. I didn’t hit it that well. But this is the result.”

And he pointed at a television monitor where they were showing the game-winner.

Willrich won it. Njego Pesa tied it.

San Diego trailed, 5-4, with 3:17 to play in the game when Fernando Clavijo was inserted as the sixth attacker.

Thirty-three seconds later, Pesa smashed a right-footer from the right wing to tie the score.

“The ball deflected off the glass and came to me,” Pesa said. “I didn’t waste any time. Boom-boom. It was in the net. What a steal.”

Added Crow: “It was a typical indoor win. We knocked it around a little, they started panicking and we got a few breaks.”

Branko Segota, who continued his torrid scoring with two goals and two assists, said: “We have our periods where we go crazy a little. But then we manage to make the breaks, create the chances and put it away.”

Coming into the game, there were some key questions:

Would the host Stars be rested or rusty? Would the visiting Sockers have momentum or be emotionally drained?

Who would have the edge between these evenly matched teams that split six one-goal decisions during the regular season?

The Stars, who finished first in the Western Division and had the best record in the league (35-17), hadn’t played a game since they defeated Wichita in a decisive fifth playoff game at home last Thursday.

The Sockers were coming off two wins against the Comets, including a 9-5 victory in Kansas City Wednesday night.

Well, San Diego was the sharper team in the final quarter, which it entered trailing, 5-3.

Hugo Perez--back in the lineup after missing Wednesday’s game with a bruised right shoulder-made it 5-4 on a left-footer from the left wing with 7:56 to play in the game.

For most of the game, the Stars--supported by a crowd of 11,884--maintained the lead.

The Sockers led, 1-0, but the Stars scored three unanswered goals to take a 3-1 halftime lead.

In addition, starting Socker goalkeeper Jim Gorsek got kicked in the hand and dislocated the middle finger on his left hand in the second quarter. Gorsek played the remainder of the half, but was replaced by Zoltan Toth in the second half. Gorsek was going to have x-rays taken of his hand after the game.

Toth came off the bench to make five saves on 11 shots. When the Stars led, 5-3, and had a two-man power play for 1:16 in the third quarter, they could have put the game away. But the Sockers killed the penalties. And gained some momentum of their own.

“San Diego has to be happy,” said Zungul, who had one goal. “The inexperience of my team in the playoffs showed and we paid the price.”

And the Sockers got a steal.

“It’s never over till the fat lady stops singing,” said Socker Coach Ron Newman. “Isn’t that what they say in America? She was holding our note tonight.”

Socker Notes Bill Kentling, Major Indoor Soccer League commissioner, said Friday he has fined Star Coach Alan Hinton an undisclosed amount for comments made about Socker Coach Ron Newman.

A sampling of Hinton’s remarks, published Friday in the Tacoma News Tribune: “It’s great to have Ron Newman back in town, isn’t it? I thought of kidnapping him, but the problem with that is that if I kidnap him, then he can’t be on the bench, and they played a lot better against us this year (a 4-3 San Diego victory March 27) in that game he was suspended.

“I watched the Kansas City game (Wednesday), and every time the camera was on him on the bench he was looking at those sheets of paper he carries with him. You know what those sheets of paper say? They say, ‘Ron, you’re the greatest.’ You don’t need tactics when you have the kind of players he has.”

Kentling fined Hinton $1,000 earlier this month for Hinton’s inability to control some of his players in two bench-clearing brawls against Wichita March 10, in the third game of their playoff series.

Kentling had mailed a letter to Hinton and Newman a couple of weeks ago saying that he wanted their verbal battles--which have been considerable during the past two seasons--to stop.

“When we got the letters, I figured the whole thing would be stopped,” said Newman. “It’s OK if there’s a little humor. But this was nasty. The commissioner asked me not to say anything. So, I have no other comment.”

Kentling conducted a conference call Friday afternoon with Bob Bell, Socker managing general partner, and John Best, Star president. Bell had been read the story over the phone.

“I thank God my coach is Ron Newman and not Alan Hinton,” he said. “To think that these players have won year after year, despite Ron Newman, and not because of him, is ludicrous.”

Said Best: “As has been stated many, many times, there is a hell of a respect for the San Diego Sockers (by the Stars). But underlying that is the verbal fencing between the coaches.