It’s Painful, but Gorsek Helps Lazers Beat Sockers

Jim Gorsek took off his gloves and flashed his left hand to a couple of reporters Saturday night.

Two of the goalkeeper’s fingers were swollen to double their original size. Gorsek said they might be broken.

Earlier, Gorsek had stopped 18 shots and led his new team, the Lazers, to a 5-2 victory over his old team, the Sockers, before 11,002 fans at the San Diego Sports Arena.

The fingers hurt afterward, but Gorsek was smiling.

“This is a win that feels real good,” he said. “You always want to beat the team that got rid of you. These fingers have been hurting for a couple of days now, but there’s no way they could have kept me from playing in this game.”

The Sockers, who gave up on Gorsek this summer after he helped them win six indoor championships, probably wished they hadn’t seen him again so soon.

They were unable to score against him until just over 7 minutes remained in the game and by that time, the Lazers were well ahead, 3-0.

“We picked up a lot of new players this season, but everybody said all we did was play offense,” Lazer Coach Keith Tozier said. “But we played great defense in this game. We took care of them first, then we took care of ourselves.”

The Lazers’ task was made easier when the Sockers’ top scorer of a year ago, Branko Segota, left the game with a leg injury. It’s possible Segota could lost to the Sockers for up to two weeks.

Also lost to the Sockers, besides Gorsek, is midfielder Waad Hirmez, who also plays for the Lazers. Hirmez scored two goals Saturday to go along with two goals by Gary Heale.

After a scoreless first quarter, the Lazers took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Gary Heale, six minutes into the second period.