Hirmez Hits; Sockers Beat Steamers, 5-2

After seven games of the season, Waad Hirmez asked to be traded.

Hirmez, a Socker defender, was frustrated because he felt he was not getting the ball and was not getting respect from his teammates.

Then he spoke with Coach Ron Newman and shortly thereafter was switched to the midfield, which was a more natural position to showcase his offensive skills.

Now, 30 games after being asked to be traded, Hirmez has scored at least one point in 23 straight games.

Hirmez extended his streak with a fourth quarter power play goal in the Sockers’ 5-2 victory over the St. Louis Steamers in front of 6,994 fans in the San Diego Sports Arena Sunday night.

The Sockers were leading 3-2 and had a man advantage on the power play when the left-footed Hirmez scored on a right-footer at 2:06.

“I played it nice and easy with my right to the far post,” Hirmez said.

That’s 27 goals and 19 assists for 46 points for Hirmez, second on the team in scoring behind Branko Segota with 62. During his 23-game streak, Hirmez has 24 goals and 16 assists.

In addition, he also teamed with Paul Dougherty to win the Starshot Competition held during All-Star week.

And Hirmez is enjoying his success to the hilt.

He is demonstrative in his cheerleading to the fans. And when he has the ball there is little question what is foremost on his mind.

Thus the question: Is Hirmez looking to extend his streak at the expense of passing to open teammates?

“We’re all in this to win,” Segota said. “If someone gets out of line, we’ll say something. At the end of the game, we can force the issue and help a player with a streak.”

When asked if he felt Hirmez was pressing for points, Newman said: “A little tiny bit. But he’s a goal scorer. They are reknowned for thinking every time they get the ball, they can score. You can’t take that away from him. It’s not a bad thing. He has the ability to put the ball in the net.”

In the past, Newman said he felt Hirmez was “strong and quick, but never seemed to read the game well.” Thus, Newman used Hirmez as a defender, because he felt it was easier to teach a defender how to read the game.

Hirmez said he doesn’t think he’s pressing.

“I don’t think it’s affecting my game because I’m playing the same as I did 10 games ago,” he said.

Actually, Hirmez is almost embarrassed by the streak.

“In a way I was hoping it would end tonight,” he said. “People are talking about it too much.”

Whereas Hirmez’s streak was the focus of attention after Sunday’s game, the Sockers’ fifth-straight victory was a team effort:

- Raffaele Ruotolo tied the game at 2 on a rocket left-footer from 25-feet on the right side at 8:24 of the third quarter.

“I came off the bench, got the ball, took one step, cut and took a good shot.”

The ball blazed past Steamer goalkeeper Slobo Ilijevski for Ruotolo’s fourth goal of the season.

“This was Raffy’s best game of his career,” Newman said.

- Segota, returning after missing two games with a left hamstring strain, had two assists. On his first, Segota beat four Steamers and set up Juli Veee, who knocked in a right-footer from the penalty area.

On Segota’s ability to control the ball and set up scoring opportunities, Newman said: “I thought the referee was marking him once. It seemed everybody was.”

Segota said he still can’t sprint 100%, but he didn’t want to miss too many games and become stale.

- Goalkeeper Zoltan Toth won his third straight game since starting and winning the All-Star game. Toth allowed two goals and made 7 saves on 14 shots Sunday. In his last three games, he has allowed four goals and has made 49 saves.

On Sunday, Toth came out of the goal to make a key save on a shot by Steamer forward Redmond Lane with the Steamers on a break and leading 2-1 in the second quarter. Seconds later, Ruotolo tied the game.

Keder scored his 21st goal on a power play, off a pretty pass from Dougherty, to give the Sockers a 3-2 lead at 11:15 of the third quarter. Hirmez made it 4-2 and Dougherty scored his 27th goal to make it 5-2 at 3:17 of the fourth quarter.

The Sockers are 28-9 and lead Tacoma and Kansas City by 9 1/2 games in the Western Division.

It’s getting to the point where streaks get more attention than wins.