Lazers Rout Wichita for Their Best Record
The Lazers have good reason to consider themselves fortunate this season.
Not only have they qualified for the Major Indoor Soccer League playoffs for the first time in three seasons, they will also get a chance to prove themselves because there will actually be a playoffs.
On Feb. 24, the league’s owners threatened to cease operations after the regular season, but they reached an agreement--including a salary-cap reduction from $1.275 million to $900,000--with the MISL Players Assn. just before the Friday night deadline they had set.
The Lazers, who concluded their best regular season Saturday night with a 12-3 victory over the Wichita Wings at the Forum, will put their money problems aside, for now, and focus on their first-round playoff opponents, the Kansas City Comets.
“There’s nothing we can do about that now,” said Thompson Usiyan, who finished the season strongly with 16 goals and 14 assists in his last 9 games. “We’ll just have to take each game one at a time. Hopefully we’ll take Kansas City and go from there.”
The Lazers (31-25) finished second in the Western Division to the five-time league champion San Diego Sockers, whom they defeated four times in seven games this season. The Lazers’ 291 goals, including 62 in their last 8 games, were second only to the 295 by the Comets.
This was accomplished largely because of Chico Borja and Usiyan, both among the league’s top 10 in scoring. Borja finished with 47 goals and 51 assists. Usiyan, playing the best soccer that Lazer Coach Keith Tozer has seen in 10 years, had a career-high 52 goals and 36 assists.
With an aggressive and talented defensive unit, the Lazers have a chance to redeem past performances that include three last-place finishes in six years.
“The chemistry is there, and the confidence is overflowing,” Tozer said. “These guys are enjoying what they’re doing, and they’re doing a great job.”
The Lazers open the playoffs April 22 at the Forum against the Comets, a team they have beaten in four of seven games this season.
“The playoffs are a whole different story,” Tozer said. “Kansas City is such a great team, it should be one of the best series in the MISL playoffs.”
The Wings (23-32) did not qualify for the playoffs, finishing in fifth place in the Western Division.
