Sockers Within One Game of Clinching Playoff Spot

No, you’d never call this one easy--at least, not as easy as the 4-0 score would indicate.

But the Sockers whittled their magic number for clinching a Major Indoor Soccer League playoff berth to one and for clinching second to two by that margin Friday night before a noisy Tacoma Dome crowd of 6,716.

The Sockers can accomplish both tonight by winning at Wichita, if Dallas loses in Baltimore.

“I felt if we could win tonight--and we had every right to win--we would be in a good position,” Socker Coach Ron Newman said. “Everything pointed that we had to win unless we did something (badly) drastic.”

They didn’t.

The hard-rock defense gets the credit for this one, beginning with goalkeeper Victor Nogueira, who notched his second shutout of the season.

In truth, Noguiera almost could have paid to get in: He made only four saves, but three of the were tough.

“I can’t single out anyone,” Noguiera said. But then he added, “George Fernandez was unbelievable. He was just diving all over the place.

“Now that he’s finished his real estate course, he’s thinking about soccer again. He’s unbelievable again. Everybody else was, too.

“A shutout doesn’t take one person. At the beginning of the game, I didn’t feel that great. My legs were heavy. But the defense was great.”

Fernandez, with his first game-winning goal and a picture-perfect assist, was in the middle of it at both ends: He also had six blocked shots.

“We played awesome defense,” Fernandez said. “Everybody got back. As a team we played very well. Our defenders stuck it to them.”

The Stars stretched their scoreless minutes to 91:50 and, as Newman said, “They missed a lot of opportunities they usually put away.”

In an intense first half, characterized by the teams barking at each other and three penalties on the Sockers, San Diego finally got on the board at 10:38 with what turned out to be the game-winner.

Fernandez, who has never made a living at the far post, volleyed in a Steve Zungul corner kick from left wing that was nicely threaded through traffic.

“I was pretty shocked the ball got through,” Fernandez said. “There wasn’t that much space. He just put it on my foot.”

The Sockers stretched their lead to 2-0 at 2:23 of the third quarter. Branko Segota arched a free kick from the top of the circle to Kevin Crow, who headed it through Tacoma keeper Mike Dowler’s hands.

The Sockers made it 3-0 at 13:46 of the third on a nice collaboration between Fernandez and Cacho. Fernandez chipped a lob pass to Cacho on the run behind the Stars defense, and the Cacho volleyed it inside the right post.

The Sockers’ fourth goal, by Waad Hirmez from Segota, came at 10:32 with Tacoma trying the sixth attacker.

On one, Socker Zoran Karic banged a shot off the crossbar that rocketed down right on the line. On the the other, Tacoma’s Preki did the same, surprising Nogueira with a right-footed shot.