Home Again Not So Sweet as Lazers Lose to St. Louis, 3-2
With nearly one-third of the Major Indoor Soccer League season completed, the Lazers have found themselves playing an unfamiliar role, that of a front-runner.
But by losing to the St. Louis Steamers, 3-2, Sunday night at the Forum, the Lazers have yet to prove it to their home fans, this time 5,736 of them.
With the score tied, 2-2, early in the fourth quarter, the Steamers began to press the Lazers as they had done in the early going and throughout much of the game--they outshot the Lazers, 29-25.
It was forward Boki Bandovic who finally got off the winning shot, a low and hard left-footed blast which made it past Lazer goalkeeper A.J. Lachowecki.
The victory was the second straight for the Steamers (8-10), who on Saturday night handed the San Diego Sockers their first defeat at home this season.
The Lazers, meanwhile, saw a two-game winning streak come to an end.
“We just looked flat again,” Lazer Coach Keith Tozer said. “We’ve got to find out how to win at home.”
The Lazers have apparently learned how to win on the road--they won a club-record five straight road games with their 9-5 victory over the Tacoma Stars Saturday night in Tacoma.
The Lazers’ 7-3 road record is the best in the league. Overall, the Lazers are 10-8 and trail the Western Division-leading San Diego Sockers by just two games.
The Lazers’ have the second-best record in the league, and are off to their second-best start. Their best ever was during the 1984-85 season when they began the season 14-5, and went on to finish 24-24.
But the Forum still presents a problem for the Lazers, who have the worst home record (3-5) in the league. In fact, the Lazers are the only club without a winning record at home.
“They have a brand new team,” said the Steamers’ Poli Garcia, a former Lazer who scored one goal and assisted on game-winning goal. “But they now have good defenders, which is one of the things that’s going to help them.”
The Lazer defense played well to a point Sunday night, but because their offense was unable to get things going, the Steamers spent more time in the Lazer zone and in the end it payed off. The Steamers defense, meanwhile, was superb as goalkeeper Slobo Ilijevski was given solid support throughout the game and finished with 13 saves.
“Today was a game of mental mistakes,” Tozer said, in taking nothing away from the Steamers’ performance. “St. Louis worked harder and each player played an honest 60 minutes.”
The Lazers opened the scoring, taking a 1-0 lead late in the first period when Slobo Ilijevski accidentally dropped the ball in front of Thompson Usiyan, who kicked it in from 25 feet out.
But the Steamers tied the game 2:40 into the second quarter on a long shot by Perry Van Der Beck, and may have increased the lead if not for several diving saves by Lachowecki, who also finished with 13.
The Lazers’ Paul Child then made it 2-1 Lazers with a 20-foot goal late in the third quarter, which was matched by Garcia’s diving head shot from 10 feet out 3:28 into the fourth quarter.
After that, the Lazers seemed content to stay in their zone and play defense, which eventually led to their downfall.
Said Tozer: “(A) 10-8 (record) is nothing to get down about and we seem to have things under control on the road. but we’ve got to get things together at home. I’m sure our home record will eventually take care of itself.”
And if it doesn’t?
“Call it a threat or whatever, but if they don’t adjust to it (playing at home), I’ll make sure they do.”
The Lazers have four days off before traveling to San Diego to play the Sockers next Friday night.
