Sockers Avoid Rough Stuff While Defeating Stars, 9-4
After the Tacoma players had singled out Branko Segota and promised retribution after the Sockers’ rowdy victory Friday in San Diego, the Stars spent most of Sunday’s game at the Tacoma Dome on the defensive.
The Sockers took advantage by rolling to a 9-4 Major Indoor Soccer League victory, one of their finest efforts of the season.
Defender Kevin Crow and forward Steve Zungul did most of the dirty work, but not with elbows or kicks. Crow blocked seven shots (Tacoma rattled off 43 shots) and had a goal and an assist. Zungul tormented his former mates with the game-winning goal and three assists.
“Everything we touched seemed to turn to gold,” said Socker Coach Ron Newman. “I felt a little sorry for Tacoma.”
“They gave us a lesson, didn’t they?” said Stars’ Coach Alan Hinton. “When I was in school and I did something wrong, my mother would give me an old-fashioned thrashing. That’s what they did to us.”
Thus, after a flat month or so, San Diego has won three of its past four games impressively and opened a 2 1/2-game lead over third-place Dallas. The Sockers are 3 1/2 games behind first-place Baltimore, which lost Sunday to Los Angeles.
“This is the time of year when teams really start to assert themselves,” Crow said. “If we are to pull away from the rest of the guys and try to catch Baltimore, we need to separate ourselves from them and get a little cushion.”
San Diego bolted to leads of 6-1 and 7-2 before two fourth-quarter Tacoma goals brought the 6,464 fans to life, temporarily. Then Crow’s goals put the game out of reach.
Despite the vengeance hype, Sunday’s game was normal for the most part. There were, however, two elbows to the ribs of Socker defender Ralph Black, the first by Gregg Blasingame, the second by Gerry Gray.
“I usually find that in these little games that the animosity doesn’t linger,” said Newman. “I told our boys not to do anything, because the referees read the paper and they were going to be very particular.”
Crow, the Sockers’ perennial all-star, said, “Sometimes that stuff (dirty play) gets blown out of proportion. You can never plan a battle. That stuff happened because of the circumstances on the field at the time.
“Soccer is a very emotional game. You are playing each other so often, sometimes individuals can get on each others’ nerves. Even though you are buddies off the field, sometimes, through personalities, a circuit goes and things like ()that happen.”
One of the cool heads on the Sockers was Zungul.
“We controlled the ball, we controlled the space, and we controlled our temper,” said Zungul. “With all these little things and the discipline we have, we didn’t have a chance to lose the game.”
Segota, the announced target, came through almost unscathed and scored a goal and an assist, though he said he played cautiously.
“I think it’s more the fans and the press,” said Segota. “They build it up. The players are a little smarter. Nobody likes to come out kicking. We wanted to come out and have a good game.”
Obviously, they did.
Socker Notes
Sockers forward Zoran Karic, the team’s leading goal scorer, bruised his foot on a San Diego power play. His status will be determined today. . . . San Diego Coach Ron Newman admitted that he was talking to Los Angeles Sunday about a trade involving Lazers’ Waad Hirmez, a midfielder, and Jim Gorsek, a goalkeeper, both of whom are former Sockers. The speculation is that injuries to Zoltan Toth and Brian Quinn might be more serious than first feared. . . . Coach Alan Hinton said he is discussing trades with several clubs, but Newman said he had not talked with Hinton. The Sockers reportedly are interested in midfielder Gerry Gray.
