Routine Victory by Hot Sockers is Another Segota Show

Socker Coach Ron Newman said his team’s 5-1 victory over Chicago Wednesday night wasn’t tidy and wasn’t classic.

It was vintage Branko Segota.

The Socker midfielder scored a hat trick to overtake Minnesota forward Hector Marinaro for the Major Indoor Soccer League lead in goals with 51 in 39 games. Marinaro has 50 goals in 46 games.

“Two of the goals were all on his own,” Newman said. “They were pure, unadulterated skill.”

On his second goal, Segota hit a turnaround left footer from the right side with Sting midfielder Charlie Fajkus draped around him.

“He played me close, I spun around and hit it in the corner,” Segota said.

Segota also assisted on a third-quarter goal by Zoran Karic to bring his team-leading totals to 51 goals and 29 assists for 80 points.

When asked what leading the league in goals means to him, Segota said:

“The points, they’re going to come. You’ve got to play for the team.”

What a team he is playing for.

The Sockers won their sixth in a row, 13th in their past 14 games. They have a magic number of two over Eastern Division-leading Minnesota to clinch the best record in the league and thereby the home-field advantage as long as they remain in the playoffs.

The Sockers are 36-10, which is a victory shy of tying the league record they set in 1984-85, when they finished 37-11. They have won 19 home games (19-4), two short of tying the league record they set in 1985-86.

San Diego has won 13 in a row against Eastern Division clubs and is 17-2 overall against the East. The Sockers are 4-0 against the Sting (21-24).

Playing in front of an announced season-high Big Buddy Night crowd of 11,925, the Sockers never trailed.

Socker defender Kevin Crow scored his sixth goal of the season to make it 1-0 at 4:48 of the first quarter. Batata tied it at 2:14 of the second quarter. Segota made it 2-1 at 10:17.

“In the first half we were standing around watching the ball,” said Socker goalkeeper Jim Gorsek. “In the second half we were reacting, and the defense did a magnificent job.”

Gorsek made 12 saves on 18 shots to raise his record to 19-5 and lower his goals-against average to 3.18. He has won 16 of his past 18.

While Gorsek and the defense held the Sting--playing without injured leading scorer Pato Margetic--in check, the Socker offense was all Segota in the second half.

Socker Notes

Forward Paul Dougherty, at 5-feet 2-inches the shortest athlete in major league sports in North America, will be the subject of a feature story in Sports Illustrated. Reporter Bruce Anderson will be in San Diego Friday to interview Dougherty. In his first full season with the Sockers, Dougherty, 21, is the team’s second leading scorer with 32 goals and 19 assists for 51 points. . . . Greeted by loud cheers, the S-O-C-K-E-R-S sign made its return to the Sports Arena before Wednesday’s game. The sign, accompanied by flashing lights, smoke effects and the introduction of the players as they run through the letters, was a tradition for years. This season, it was eliminated after the first game because the new Socker management said it wanted to try and sell indoor soccer as a sport, rather than as entertainment. Ron Cady, Socker president, said the sign was brought back in honor of the Sockers winning the Western Division title and because it was Big Buddy Night. Cady said approximately 5,600 tickets at $3 apiece were purchased by corporations and individuals for Wednesday’s game and donated to disadvantaged kids.