Sockers Lose to Stars, Can Try Again Tonight

The Sockers and Tacoma Stars, in one of the Major Indoor Soccer League’s best rivalries, will do it again tonight at 6:05 in the Sports Arena.

But the San Diego Sockers are hoping The Second Coming of The Lord of All Indoors, Steve Zungul, and the return of Branko Segota will turn it around.

Zungul will play his first game as a Socker since February of 1986. Segota will play his first since opening night.

The Sockers could have used both here Saturday night--Tacoma dealt the Sockers their second consecutive loss on the road, 4-3 in overtime, at the Tacoma Dome before 7,150 fans.

Neil Megson got the winner, his second goal of the game, at 4:51. He fired in a rebound of a Gerry Gray shot that Sockers keeper Victor Nogueira had knocked down and into the box.

Megson had set the play up by stealing the ball from the Sockers’ Ralf Wilhelms.

“Ralf’s really a rookie,” Sockers Coach Ron Newman said. “It was typical of a young player. He doesn’t have the vision yet.”

This was a team the Sockers dominated last season, winning 5 of 6, including 2 of 3 here.

So much for history.

“I thought we had one poor period, and the rest was all us,” Newman said. “I thought we were tremendous. We just didn’t get breaks in front of the goal.”

Indeed, before Megson’s winner, Socker forward Alan Willey hit the near post, and midfielder Chris Chueden fired just wide of an open corner.

“I think that was the first time they had been at that end of the field since early in the fourth quarter,” Newman said. “The ball’s just not bouncing for us this year. I think before the playoff time comes, the ball will start bouncing for us. I told the boys they had nothing to be ashamed of.

“It was a great game. We always have great games here. We played our bloody hearts out.”

It was a gutty performance by the Sockers. Outclassed early, they roared back from a 3-1 deficit, using a successful pressure defense to befuddle Tacoma.

At 2:51 of the third quarter, it finally resulted in a nifty half-volley goal by Zoran Karic after Kevin Crow came up with a steal and threaded a pass to left wing.

Then, after Crow was cited for a holding foul, goalkeeper Victor Nogueira helped snuff a Stars power play.

He saved four genuine shots--by Peter Ward, Ali Kazemaini, Godfrey Ingram and Preki.

For good measure, he swatted down a pair of very good shots by Ward immediately afterward.

The Sockers tied it at 3-3 on Karic’s second goal at 3:29 of the fourth quarter.

Karic was posted on left wing, received a pass from George Fernandez and whirled and fired a left-footer just inside the far post, his fifth goal of the season.

“He always looks like he’s going to score,” Newman said of his young forward. “He’s so dangerous now.”

Then the Sockers turned back repeated Tacoma thrusts, the last a nifty save by Nogueira of a Ward shot.

With Nogueira getting his first action of the season in goal, the Stars bolted to a 2-0 lead in the early going, thanks to the presence of two relatively new faces.

Midfielder David Hoggan, playing in his first game after serving a five-game suspension for head-butting the Sockers’ Hugo Perez in the final game last season, struck first at 2:51.

From the box, he right-footed a rebound of a shot by defender Joe Waters off the boards.

At 9:51, midfielder John Bain, a late signee, ripped in a picturesque turn shot in the box. Megson set him up.

“I didn’t think we were good enough in the first period,” Newman observed. “Then we picked our game up. That’s the second game we’ve done that.”

Regarding Nogueira’s first start in about eight months, Newman said, “You can’t always tell in this game whether he can save anything. But I thought he had a great second half.”

The Sockers finally got on the board at 12:43. Willey, the veteran post-up forward, went outside this time, firing a 40-footer that appeared to bounce off the leg of Stars keeper Mike Dowler.

It was one of only two shots in goal for the Sockers in the first quarter.

The Stars, after missing four golden opportunities on a power play in the second quarter, pushed it to 3-1 at 7:19.

Forward Ward threaded a nice pass through traffic to Megson, who fired a low left-footer on the run, just inside the far post.