Goalkeeper Brcic and Some Tough Defense Keys as Lazers Upset Sockers at San Diego

For the past two days, Lazer Coach Keith Tozer has been telling his players that the way to stop the Sockers is similar to the way the Washington Redskins stopped Denver Bronco quarterback John Elway.

That is, keep possession of the ball and play tough defense.

The Lazers did both in snapping the Sockers win streak at nine with a 4-2 victory at the San Diego Sports Arena Tuesday night.

Los Angeles (13-13) moves into a second-place tie with Tacoma, seven games behind the Sockers (21-7) in the Western Division of the Major Indoor Soccer League.

The game was tied 2-2 late in the fourth quarter when Lazer forward Chris Chueden scored from inside the penalty area with 5:04 to play. The Sockers replaced goalkeeper Zoltan Toth with sixth attacker with 3:55 to play.

Nine seconds after Toth left the game, former Socker Cha Cha Namdar scored an empty net goal to give the Lazers a two-goal cushion.

Those goals won the game, but it was the Lazer defense and the play of goalkeeper David Brcic that enabled the Lazers to force the Sockers into their kind of game. Brcic was magnificent, making 18 saves on 34 shots. The Lazer defense blocked 14 shots.