Stars Beat Sockers to Force Deciding 7th Game : Zungul Causes Troubles at Home of Former Teammates as Tacoma Wins, 4-3

The Sockers are a team that thrives on being on the brink. But give them an edge, and they give it right back.

Leading, 3-2, in the best-of-seven Western Division finals, the Sockers were playing in front of a sellout crowd of 12,884 Tuesday night in an arena where they were once invincible.

But for the first time in seven games, the Sockers lost a home game in which they could have clinched a playoff series.

Star midfielder Ricky Davis scored from the right of the post with 1:45 remaining to give Tacoma a 4-3 victory. Former Socker Steve Zungul got the assist on what he said was a “shot/slash.”

The series is tied at 3-3. A deciding Game 7 will be played at the Tacoma Dome Thursday night.

“We don’t die,” yelled Zungul. “We don’t die.”

The Sockers had won two straight, including a dramatic, come-from-behind 6-5 victory in overtime Sunday night in Tacoma. But you never know which Socker team will show up on a given night.

That is particularly true when the Sockers are not facing elimination. They are 7-0 in do-or-die games.

“This game shows the character of this team,” Socker defender Kevin Crow said. “Nobody wants to do the hard work unless they have to. Everyone wants to impress the home fans.

“In the second half, we had our backs to the wall. But you can’t always wait until the second half.”

The Sockers trailed at halftime, 3-1. But Hugo Perez scored in the third quarter and Branko Segota scored on a penalty kick early in the fourth to tie the score.

The momentum was with the home team, but a victory was not forthcoming.

“I’d like to apologize to the fans,” Segota said. “We asked for a sellout and got it, but we didn’t produce.”

First the apologies. Then the tirades.

“We didn’t want to do what we did in the past,” said Segota, referring to earlier home performances. “It’s easier for us to play away. There is less pressure.”

The Sockers, who were 28-1 at home coming into the playoffs, are 2-3 this season. In this series, both teams have won two of three games on the road.

“We were tired and fatigued out there and our shooting was off,” Socker Coach Ron Newman said. “It took us until the second half to get in the game. Then we still don’t play the bloody system. We have tired players who are on the field too long.”

As for the Stars, they went from being shocked after blowing a three-goal lead in their loss Sunday to feeling sorry for themselves to being angry by game time.

On Tuesday morning, Star Coach Alan Hinton ended his team’s practice after just four minutes.

“It was a motivational tactic,” Hinton said.

So was his meeting with the players Tuesday afternoon.

“Now, we have the same attitude as the Sockers,” Zungul said. “That is, we don’t lose.

“I’m happy,” Zungul said. “The guys gave me great support tonight.”

Zungul had a goal and two assists. Gary Heale had two goals and Davis one. Goalkeeper Joe Papaleo made 15 saves on 34 shots.

Segota, Perez and Jean Willrich scored for the Sockers. Goalkeeper Zoltan Toth made 12 saves on 25 shots.

At halftime, it appeared the Sockers might have the Stars just where they wanted them. San Diego was down by two goals, and they had made a habit of coming back against Tacoma.

Perez scored to make it 3-2. With 12:24 left, Star defender Gregg Blasingame was called for a hand ball inside the penalty area. That gave the Sockers a 24-foot penalty shot from the spot at the top of the penalty area.

The man on the spot was Segota.

Throughout much of the game, Segota was kicking the ball high into the stands. But this time, he lined a right-footer past Papaleo and into the right side of the net.

That tied a game that was dominated by Tacoma in the first half.

The teams traded power-play goals in the first quarter. With the Sockers penalized for having too many men on the field, Heale deflected a shot by Zungul to give the Stars a 1-0 lead at 4:42.

At 11:20, with Davis off for tripping, Willrich tied the score on a 35-footer from straightaway.

The tie didn’t last long.

Heale spun Socker defender Brian Schmetzer around and chipped in a left-footer from the right wing to give the Stars a 2-1 lead at 11:57.

Zungul, who was once again continually booed by the San Diego fans, gave the Stars a 3-1 lead on right-footer from the right wing at 4:16 of the second quarter. Zungul has scored in 29 straight playoff games.

And once again, his team prevailed in a must game.

“Before the game, I told my teammates that two things can happen tonight,” Zungul said. “We can win the game or go on vacation. They didn’t like my humor.”