Toth Sizzles as Sockers End Baltimore Jinx
Coach Ron Newman called it the “game of the century” by a goalkeeper. Zoltan Toth wouldn’t go that far, simply calling it one of the better games of his career.
However you describe it, the Sockers’ all-star goalkeeper dominated last night’s game as San Diego defeated the Blast, 3-1, for its first-ever regular-season win in Baltimore. Of the 43 Baltimore shots, Toth was credited with 28 saves, many of the spectacular variety.
“We wanted to win this game badly, especially since we had never won in Baltimore before,” Toth said. “Kenny Cooper (the Blast coach) stayed in Baltimore during the All-Star break, so we knew they would be ready for us.’
The win was especially sweet for the Sockers, who had lost three of their last five games, including three of four at home. The win improved their record to 24-9, the best in the Major Indoor Soccer League.
Newman couldn’t stop handing out the superlatives.
“Game of the year? Of the century, I think,” Newman said. “This has to be one of the finest goalkeeping games I’ve ever seen and surely one of the best he’s ever had.”
With the way the game started, it appeared that Toth was in for a very long night. The Sockers committed a tripping foul just 66 seconds into the game and, on the ensuing free kick, Keith Furphy, on a pass from Stan Stamenkovic, kicked the ball just over the outstretched hands of Toth for a 1-0 Blast lead.
The Blast, for the next 13 minutes, bombarded Toth with an array of shots. But the goalie made four spectacular saves during that time to keep his team just a goal down.
Toth’s play allowed San Diego to tie the score with 4:56 left in the quarter on a back-door pass that would have made John Wooden proud. Keder centered a pass to Waad Hirmez, then took off for the goal. Hirmez hit him just to the left of the net, and Keder kicked it in just beyond Scott Manning’s right hand.
With the assist, Hirmez has now scored a point in 19 consecutive games, fourth longest streak in the team’s history.
The Sockers almost lulled Baltimore to sleep on their second goal. They stalled on their end for about 30 seconds, then took off quickly down the right sideline. Fernando Clavijo was able to draw Manning toward him, then dumped a nice pass to Juli Veee all alone on the left side of the net. Veee knocked in what proved to be the game-winning goal.
Paul Dougherty scored San Diego’s final goal 4:11 into the third period after picking up a loose ball that Furphy was unable to clear downfield. Dougherty kicked it just inside the left post for a 3-1 lead.
Baltimore continued the pressure for the rest of the game, putting in a sixth attacker with 6:11 left in the game. But Toth, continuing his spectacular play, was able to keep the Blast in check.
“He played excellent; it was a goalkeeper’s dream game,” Manning said. ‘When you have someone playing as well as he did, there’s no way you can beat them.”
There was one casualty for the night for San Diego--Branko Segota, the team’s leading scorer, going down with a strained left hamstring in the first half. He missed the rest of the game. His status for Sunday’s game at Cleveland is doubtful.
As for winning their first regular-season game in eight tries in Baltimore, Newman said his team was due.
“I never like to play a team we’ve never lost to before,” Newman said. “You know the pendulum has to swing around sooner or later.”
Socker Notes
The Sockers have signed Fahmi El Shami to a 10-day contract. Shami, 23, has been playing for the Auto Trader team, a reserve squad for the Sockers. The Sockers signed Shami, from Libya, because they have only 15 healthy players on the roster. Shami has 20 goals and 7 assists in 18 games for the Auto Trader team.
