Sockers Hope to Grab 2-0 Lead With a Better-Looking Effort

That the Major Indoor Soccer League staged its kickoff luncheon for this year’s championship series Thursday at the Kona Kai Club on Shelter Island--the day after the first game between the Sockers and Cleveland Force--seemed appropriate.

It appeared, after all, that Wednesday night’s Game 1 was only a dress rehearsal for the real performance, which both teams hope will begin with Game 2 tonight in the San Diego Sports Arena at 7:05.

Most of the fallout from the opening-night flop concerned the teams’ poor performances and the players’ difficulty getting up for the game.

“It sure didn’t seem like a championship-round game to me,” Socker forward Waad Hirmez said.

Despite some not-so-rave reviews, the series opener did allow the Sockers to play poorly and still manage a 6-5 overtime victory that gives them a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. A victory tonight would send the five-time indoor champions back to Cleveland for three games with a two-game lead.

“A win (tonight), to me, means that we can win this series in five games,” said Hirmez, lending a little color to a series that needs it. “Right now, they don’t seem to be as good a team as Kansas City. But things can change, and we have to make sure that we play better.”

Kansas City extended the Sockers to seven games in the Western Division finals before being eliminated Saturday night.

“Things were so up for that whole Kansas City series,” Hirmez said. “And I knew it was going to be hard for things to seem the same when this series started.”

Cleveland had another excuse for Game 1. The Force ended its Eastern Division final against Minnesota May 15 and waited around for 2 1/2 weeks for the championship series to begin.

“In a way, it was good that we got to open on the road,” Force goalkeeper P.J. Johns said. “That way, we could work out some of the bugs in our game and not be under so much pressure. Now, we can come back (tonight) and get a split, and we’ll be home for three.”

If nothing else, the MISL’s new 2-3-2 playoff format has given added importance to Game 2.

“Yes, neither team should have any trouble getting fired up for this one,” said Ron Newman, the Sockers’ coach. “The way things sit, neither of us can afford to lose it.”

It would also seem that the MISL, celebrating its 10th year this season, can ill afford many more “showcase” games such as Wednesday’s.

Only 7,322 fans watched the series kick off, and it has been hard to find any hype for this championship round.

“When you get to a stage like this, you begin to realize that our league is still quite a ways behind basketball, football, baseball and hockey,” Force Coach Timo Liekoski said. “But we’re growing and we have to continue to grow intelligently.

“Still, it’s frustrating. Because you know if the Los Angeles Kings were in the Stanley Cup finals up the road, it would be impossible to get a ticket.”

That was almost the case Saturday when a sellout of 12,884 saw the Sockers eliminate Kansas City. Only four days later, the crowd was down by more than 5,000.

“It’s like they (the fans) think that we don’t need them early in the series,” Hirmez said. “I guess they think they will save their money for games later on in the series.”

Hirmez, who attended Point Loma High School, said that he thinks soccer is growing in San Diego faster than ever. With that in mind, he says it’s hard to understand the city’s apathy.

“I drive around and see kids kicking the ball in the streets or in the park or at the beaches even,” Hirmez said. “It seems like people are more interested in the sport than ever.

“I know when I was a kid, I always wanted to see professional games so I could see the players and see what it was they were doing to be so good. I learned a lot that way.”

Those in attendance Wednesday, however, probably shouldn’t have been taking notes.

“We can take that first game one of two ways,” Liekoski said. “We can either say we didn’t play well and still almost won, or we can say they didn’t play well and still beat us. The bottom line, though, is we have to go out and play better.”

Socker Notes

Because the opening of the championship series wasn’t played with tip-top intensity by either side, it’s not surprising to report that neither the Sockers nor the Force reported any substantial injuries. The same players--Hugo Perez, Fernando Clavijo, Brian Schmetzer and Gus Mokalis of the Sockers--who were bumped and bruised for Game 1, are listed as probable for tonight’s game. . . . Despite a Game 1 victory, Sockers Coach Ron Newman said there could be some roster changes for Game 2. “There were lot of things I wasn’t particularly happy with,” said Newman, who added he wouldn’t make any final decisions until today. Either Keder, who took Branko Segota’s place for Game 1, or Zoran Karic will probably wind up in one roster spot. . . . Clavijo’s game-winner Wednesday was only the seventh overtime goal in MISL championship series history. The last was by Dallas’ Mark Karpun, who beat Tacoma in Game 7 of the championship series last year.