Segota Has a Force With Him in 7-3 Win

The Sockers, a fussing and feuding group so far this season, got a little down-home lift Friday night.

Branko Segota, playing in front of his parents for the first time in two years, scored six goals and assisted on another to lead the Sockers past the Cleveland Force, 7-3, in front of 10,034 in the Richfield Coliseum.

Segota opened the scoring with 36 seconds left in the first quarter when he dribbled through four Force defenders and deposited a shot over goalkeeper Victor Nogueira’s left shoulder from about 18 feet.

In the second quarter, Cleveland midfielder Dennis Mepham scored two goals and assisted on another.

Only the brilliant play of Socker goalie Zoltan Toth kept things close early on. Toth twice stopped Michael King on short-handed breakaways as the Force defused a San Diego power play.

But Cleveland could not harness Segota. Only 17 seconds after the power play had ended, Keder and Segota caught Cleveland in a line change and Segota scored again to narrow the deficit to 3-2.

“That was a key goal,” Socker Coach Ron Newman said. “I mean, we were playing pretty badly on offense, we weren’t marking on defense, and only Zollie’s play was keeping us in the game.

“But I looked up at halftime and we were only down, 3-2. I just told the lads in the locker room to get things arranged and we would win. We just had to settle down.”

Segota’s second-half onslaught unsettled the Force and tied him with Juli Veee for the team record for goals in a game.

The Sockers tied the score 2:52 into the second half on Segota’s third goal of the game and 12th of the season, and went ahead at 10:35 on Segota’s penalty-kick goal. Another goal by Segota made it 5-3.

“I really think we caught Cleveland on an off night,” Segota said. “They were tired from playing the night before in Baltimore and gave me plenty of room to run. Let’s hope we don’t look like that tomorrow (tonight) in Baltimore.”

While Segota--with help from Keder--was supplying the firepower, the Sockers’ defense totally shut down the Force in the second half, allowing Cleveland only six shots after halftime.

“At the end, they just weren’t as committed to the game,” Segota said. ‘The game the night before took a lot out of them.”

Force Coach Timo Liekoski, in an effort to overcome a 5-3 deficit, pulled Nogueira in favor of a sixth attacker, but Segota promptly passed to Keder for one goal and scored his sixth goal into the empty net with 17 seconds left.

The Sockers (6-3) remained in first place in the Western Division, while the Force (5-3) fell into a tie for the lead in the Eastern Division.