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With Some Key Players Missing, Sockers Are Finding Themselves

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The Sockers don’t have their point-scoring leader, Branko Segota. They don’t have their goal-scoring leader, Zoran Karic. Both are out with injuries. But if things aren’t apple pie a la mode, they aren’t too bad, either.

Take Saturday’s 4-3 victory over the Dallas Sidekicks at the Sports Arena. Nothing too spectacular. Nothing overly flashy. But the Sockers found a way to win.

“You don’t like that feeling that you’re not going to win without certain players,” defender Kevin Crow said. “(The Sockers) have always been able to lose a few players and play at a higher level for a few games.”

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So that’s what seems to be happening. Last week, the Sockers turned in their most impressive performance of the season, defeating Baltimore, 7-1, on the road following unimpressive losses to Wichita and Dallas.

Saturday, the Sockers skipped to a 4-1 lead and then hung on in front of 9,136. Midffielder Chris Chueden scored what would eventually be the game-winner with 5:50 remaining in the third quarter, taking a free kick from Steve Zungul and driving it past Sidekick goalie Krys Sobieski.

Socker Coach Ron Newman had a hint of a smile on his face after the game. The chemistry is back. He’s even talking about first place again.

“It’s a good win for us because we can start thinking about the top spot,” said Newman, whose team trails Baltimore by just 2 1/2 games in the Major Indoor Soccer League standings. “Anything can happen.”

Newman said the victory last week in Baltimore set the tone for improvement.

“I thought we rode the adversity,” he said. “You could feel it on the bench that we weren’t going to quit. Everybody kept running off the ball and closing people down. You can’t do that unless you all do it together.”

If there was a down side to the victory over the Sidekicks, it was the fourth quarter. As usual, the Sockers gave up late goals, forwards Eloy Salgado and Tatu scoring in the final seven minutes.

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“I think late in the game we lose direction,” Crow said. “Not everybody steps on the field with the same goals in mind.”

The Sockers trailed early but quickly recovered. Dallas midfielder Terry Woodberry struck 3:55 into the game with a left-footed shot that slipped in to the left of goalie Victor Nogueira.

But the rest of the way it was fun and games for the Sockers (23-19), who now are within sight of Baltimore and 4 1/2 games ahead of third-place Dallas (21-21).

Brian Quinn, making just his second appearance in two months after being out with a strained arch, scored his first goal since Jan. 28, taking a pass from Zungul off the wall and crossing it to left corner of the net with 53 seconds remaining in the first quarter. That tied the score at 1-1.

“It was just a preview of what Juli Veee can expect to see when he comes (tonight),” Quinn said. The Sockers will retire Veee’s number at halftime of tonight’s game with the Los Angeles Lazers.

Zungul put the Sockers ahead to stay with just more than a minute gone in the second quarter, sending a shot through the legs of Sidekick defender Kevin Smith to make it 2-1.

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Just before halftime, Socker midfielder Paul Dougherty increased the lead to 3-1, capitalizing on a assist off the wall from Gus Mokalis. Mokalis made the pass after Woodberry took a roundhouse swing and a miss at the ball with his right foot and landed on his south side on the right corner of the carpet.

Socker Notes

The Sockers are expected to sign Otto Orf II, a goalie from the Fort Wayne Flames of the American Indoor Soccer Assn., to a 10-day contract this week if he passes his physical. Orf leads the AISA with a 3.56 goals-against average. He just completed his fourth season in the league and has two years of experience in the Canadian National Soccer League. . . . Jose Luis Rebay, a midfielder from Argentina acquired March 14, suited up for the first time Saturday. . . . Midfielder Branko Segota, who strained his hamstring March 22 in a 5-4 loss to Wichita, will not play tonight against the Lazers. . . . Socker defender George Fernandez scored his first point since Feb. 19 Saturday when he assisted Steve Zungul’s second-quarter goal. . . . Midfielder Paul Dougherty, who scored in the second quarter Saturday, has six goals in the past three games.

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