Sockers Are Ill At Ease in Tacoma : Final Trip North to Settle Playoff Series “Torture” for Newman

“I can’t think of worse torture than to be told to go back to Tacoma,” said Socker Coach Ron Newman after a 4-3 loss to the Stars Tuesday night. “I’d prefer to go to Dante’s Inferno.”

But the Sockers boarded that same rickety yellow school bus at Sea-Tac airport Wednesday afternoon that would take them to that same hotel in Tacoma.

Again.

“I hate that bus,” said Socker defender Fernando Clavijo. “It bounces and bounces. It took me two days to get over it.”

The Sockers won’t have that long to get over Tuesday’s loss in Game 6 that tied the Major Indoor Soccer League playoff series at 3-3y.

Although they could have clinched the Western Division championship series in San Diego, the Sockers instead find themselves playing the Stars in a decisive seventh game at the Tacoma Dome tonight at 7:35.

The Sockers played here Sunday night, after playing in San Diego Saturday night, then returned to San Diego Monday. They played at the Sports Arena Tuesday night and came back to the Pacific Northwest Wednesday.

“I thought the biggest motivation (to win Tuesday) was that we wouldn’t go back to Tacoma,” said Newman. “And we still couldn’t do it. Those bloody meals in the hotel . . . a hostile crowd.”

A crowd of 16,000 to 18,000 is expected at the Tacoma Dome, which seats nearly 22,000. But the home-field advantage has been a disadvantage in this series.

“It’s weird,” Newman said. “But I feel more confident now than I felt before yesterday’s game. I think we have a bloody good chance up there. I was worried about all that euphoria--the fans meeting us at the airport--after we won Game 5 (6-5 in overtime).”

In this series, each team has won two of three games on the road. For the season, the Sockers are 4-2 at the Tacoma Dome and the Stars are 4-2 at the Sports Arena.

“We seem to have mental lapses when we play at home,” said Socker midfielder Jacques Ladouceur. “Maybe some people think the crowd will influence us and we don’t have to work as hard.”

“When we come home, everyone wants the ball,” said Socker midfielder Branko Segota. “There is less pressure to impress the fans on the road. Like us, they play well away from home.”

During the regular season, Tacoma and San Diego split six games. Three games went into overtime and one into double-overtime. They have split six playoff games, with one going into overtime.

Tacoma has scored 52 goals and San Diego 51 in their 12 meetings. And 10 of the 12 games have been decided by one goal. Even the attendance in this series has been incredibly close. The Sockers have drawn just 151 more fans than Tacoma in the three games.

Tonight, Tacoma has younger, fresher legs. But the Sockers have the experience.

The Soccers, though, have never lost a game in which they faced elimination. San Diego is 7-0 in those games, including wins over the Kansas City Comets in the fourth and fifth games of the opening round of the playoffs this season. In the decisive Game 5 in Kansas City, the Sockers won, 9-5.

“There is always a first time,” said Star forward Steve Zungul.

Zungul has his own streak to maintain. All five years that he has been with a single MISL team for a full season, that team has won the championship. The New York Arrows won four championships from 1978-79 through 1981-82 and the Sockers won in 1984-85. Zungul was sold by the Sockers to Tacoma midway through last season.

The Stars have been shooting for the Sockers ever since Zungul’s arrival. Tacoma had the best record in the league this season, at 35-17.

For the Sockers, it has been a constant struggle. Injuries and inconsistency have plagued the five-time indoor champions.

“One day we play well,” Segota said. “One day we’re fighting.”

Actually, the Sockers usually play their best when they’re fighting.

“People tend to want to do their own thing unless they are absolutely forced by circumstances to play for the team,” said Socker defender Kevin Crow. “We have to have all 15 guys working for 60 minutes.”

But some of the players understandably wonder how many times they can go to the well in must-win games and come out victorious.

“Some day, it’s got to end, man,” said Socker midfielder Hugo Perez. “One day it will end. I hope it doesn’t end tomorrow.”