Karic’s Two Goals Help Carry Sockers Past Steamers, 7-5

Socker Coach Ron Newman took a trip to Yugoslavia last summer, looking for a player to help his team.

“I looked at about 30 players, but only one caught my eye,” Newman said.

The player he found, forward Zoran Karic, had the St. Louis Steamers running in circles Wednesday night at the Arena. Karic finished with two goals and an assist and helped the Sockers to a 7-5 victory over the Steamers.

“We spent about three months bringing him along, and he’s fit in quite well,” Newman said. “I was looking for a player with the strength of a Branko Segota, the moves of a Hugo Perez and the speed of a Fernando Clavijo. Then I found him.

“It takes a lot of European players some time to learn the indoor game. He has adapted to this game very well.”

The Steamers were trying to get back in the game, but Karic and Segota combined on a goal for the second time at 2:45 of the fourth quarter. Karic pushed a shot past goalie Slobo Ilijevski to make the score 5-3.

Segota appeared to have put the game away at 5:17 when he blasted a shot past Ilijevski to give the Sockers a 6-3 lead.

But defender Tim Schulz scored on a rebound at 5:58 to make the score 6-4. Daryl Doran made it a one-goal game at 9:47 when he scored with two defenders on his back.

“We started to let them back in the game,” Newman said. “They never quit tonight. St. Louis gave us everything we wanted. This was the toughest game on the road for us this year.”

Gerry Gray became St. Louis’ sixth attacker at 2:25, and John Bain almost tied the score with a head ball. But goalkeeper Zoltan Toth made the save.

Jacques Ladouceur scored into a empty net at 14:41.

“We played a very good first (half), and I expected it to continue,” Steamer Coach Tony Glavin said. “We did not play well at all in the second half.”

The Steamers got their offense going early in the first quarter when Perry Van Der Beck sent a pass off the boards to Bain, who headed a shot just wide of Toth.

Bain finally beat Toth for his fifth goal of the year at 7:38. Boki Bandovic started the play with a pass off the boards and Bain sent a shot past Toth into the upper right corner.

St. Louis kept up the pressure when Doran picked up a free ball at the red line but chipped a shot over the glass.

The Sockers tied the score, 1-1, at 12:13 when Clavijo tapped a shot past Ilijevski.

The Sockers went on a power play late in the quarter when Schulz tackled Keder. Ilijevski almost killed the penalty by himself by making key saves on Waad Hirmez and twice on Segota.

The Steamers scored early in the second quarter when Garcia blasted a shot off Toth and Gus Mokalis into the net at 4:38.

Gray made it 3-1 at 12:50 after coming out of the penalty box and beating a defender down the right side.