Hirmez’s Goal in Overtime Beats Sockers

On a day when nothing seemed to go according to form, a storm that caused the Sockers’ trip to Los Angeles Thursday to take more than an hour longer than usual was appropriate.

The Sockers’ 5-game winning streak then came to an end because of thunder unexpectedly provided by two backup goalkeepers, who helped the Los Angeles Lazers to a 6-5 overtime victory in front of 4,136 at the Forum in Inglewood.

Kris Peat, a rookie from North Carolina State, replaced veteran Jim Gorsek in goal at the beginning of the fourth quarter and helped keep the Lazers close.

Then Fernando Clavijo, normally a defenseman, replaced Peat as a sixth attacker with 3 minutes left in regulation and scored the goal that sent the game into overtime.

Playing his more accustomed position on defense, Clavijo also intercepted the ball at midfield and helped set up Waad Hirmez’s game-winner 10:09 into overtime with a pass to Steve Kinsey.

Kinsey centered a pass to Hirmez, who beat Zoltan Toth on a tap-in to give the Lazers (7-10) their third victory over the Sockers in four tries.

That the Sockers’ winning streak would end like this was surprising. Gorsek, the winning goalkeeper in all six of the Lazers’ victories, was trailing only 4-3 after three quarters when he was replaced by Peat.

Peat had played only 15 minutes all season, but he made several key saves in the fourth quarter and in overtime.

“We got some good shots at him,” Socker Coach Ron Newman said. “But we couldn’t get the ball to bounce in. Why did they put him in there, anyway?”

Said Lazers’ Coach Keith Tozier: “We needed a spark. I thought if I put Kris in there, the players in front of him would protect him and work harder. It paid off.”

This one was strange from the beginning. The Sockers (8-8) took one-goal leads three times during the second half, and each time the go-ahead goal came from an unexpected source.

Kevin Crow, who had only 10 goals all last season, scored his eighth of this season on a header 1:04 into the third quarter to give the Sockers a 3-2 lead.

After the Lazers tied it, Ralf Wilhelms scored his first goal to put the Sockers back ahead, 4-3, at the end of three quarters.

Wilhelms, who rarely plays in the offensive end, picked up a loose ball and began a run up the middle of the field with Steve Zungul. Wilhelms flipped a pass to Zungul at the red line and got a return pass to beat Gorsek.

Again the Lazers tied the game, but again, the Sockers went back ahead, 5-4, with 7:31 remaining on a goal by Cacho. Cacho, another defenseman who isn’t known for scoring, has now scored goals in four consecutive games.

It didn’t stand up because of Clavijo’s effort in the final moments.

Clavijo, wearing the sixth-attacker jersey, shot wide from the top of the box but collected his own rebound in front. He shot wide again, but the ball banked in off Toth with 2:29 left.

The Sockers then almost won in regulation, but Ralph Black’s drive with one second remaining hit the inside of the far post and bounced out.

“It was a weird day and weird game all around,” Newman said. “I hate this bus trip up here, and with the rain and all, it’s tougher. Then we got out and hit a bunch of posts. They shoot wide and score goals.”

The Sockers, looking as confident as they have all season, needed only one minute of the first quarter to take a 1-0 lead.

Cacho started the scoring by intercepting a clearout pass from Gorsek and passing to Crow at midfield.

Crow played a ball down the left sideline, where Zoran Karic it and then turned quickly. His low shot trickled between Gorsek’s legs.

Branko Segota put the Sockers ahead, 2-0, on a power-play goal with 2 minutes left in the quarter.

Segota took a pass from Zungul 10 feet beyond the red line and let loose with a blast that carried over top of a surprised Gorsek and banked in off the bottom of the crossbar.

It was Segota’s 29th power-play goal as a Socker, more than any other player. Hugo Perez is second on the all-time list with 28.

But 12 seconds after Segota’s goal, the Lazers pulled within 2-1 when Clavijo centered a ball and Michael Collins deflected it in.

The score stayed that way until the 14:23 mark of the first half, when Steve Kinsey scored on a rebound for Los Angeles to tie the game at 2-2.

Socker Notes

Brian Quinn missed his first game of the season Thursday, staying in San Diego because of the flu . . . The Sockers continue a stretch of three games in four nights when they meet the Baltimore Blast at 7:35 tonight in the Sports Arena. The Blast (11-4) has lost its last two games but is still in first place in the Major Indoor Soccer League, 1 1/2 games ahead of Dallas. David Byrne leads Baltimore in scoring with 22 points (10 goals, 12 assists), and Tim Wittman is the Blast’s leading goal-scorer with 16. The Sockers have played last-place Kansas City three times at home, but this is the first time first-place Baltimore has visited. The Blast won, 4-1, in the teams’ first meeting Dec. 10 in Baltimore. The Sockers will wrap up a brief 2-game homestand Sunday night against the Los Angeles Lazers at 6:05. . . . Zoran Karic extended his point-scoring streak to nine consecutive games with a goal in the first quarter. . . . Socker goalkeeper Victor Nogueira took over the league lead in goals-against average Monday night when the Sockers beat Kansas City, 5-2. Nogueira, who hadn’t played enough to qualify before Monday, is allowing 2.55 goals per game. P.J. Johns of the Tacoma Stars is second with a 3.56 GAA. . . . In Tacoma’s 10-4 victory over Baltimore Wednesday night, Johns became the first MISL goalkeeper to get a goal and an assist in the same game. The goal was Johns’ second of his career. Keith Van Eron scored three goals in his career while playing for Baltimore. The Sockers’ Zoltan Toth set the record for most points by a goalkeeper in one game when he had three assists against St. Louis Dec. 15, 1984.