Sockers Hope Late Fades Won’t Lead to Early Exit From Playoffs
Dig back through a month and a half of Socker games and you can find what turned out to be the dress rehearsal for Saturday’s semifinal playoff loss to Dallas.
Different team. Same score. Same result.
At the San Diego Sports Arena March 22, the Sockers were sailing along with a 4-2 lead when Wichita scored three goals in 1:38 to steal the victory, 5-4.
How familiar.
The agony was longer Saturday, but the aftereffects may be of more consequence. Dallas scored three goals within 4:46 of the fourth quarter and won, 5-4, tying the series at one game each.
So the Sockers have arrived for three games at Reunion Arena knowing this could be the last stop on their Major Indoor Soccer League title defense tour. Tonight’s 5:35 game will be followed by games Saturday and Tuesday. If the Sockers lose them all, the season is over.
Perhaps their biggest immediate concern is a tendency to fade late in a game. Their record in overtime this season is 2-10, and lapses such as Saturday’s seem to be most prevalent in the fourth quarter. Nobody is sure why.
“Maybe we lose a little bit of focus late in the game when we get ahead,” defender Kevin Crow said. “I think sometimes we want to play a little bit more freely before we put the game away. We get a little more individual and selfish. The point is not to get to the point where you allow them to tie. Once the game is tied, it’s too late.”
The Sidekicks, who clearly don’t measure up to the Sockers in terms of talent, are proving true to their reputation as a tireless team with a strong work ethic. By all rights, the Sockers should have won Saturday, but Dallas’ players hustled to take advantage of each Socker mistake.
“Dallas played with a lot of emotion,” midfielder Brian Quinn said. “When we go to Dallas, if we don’t match that, we’ll be in trouble. We’ve just got to get the killer instinct back. It’s far from over. It’s going to be a long, drawn-out struggle.”
Quinn, as with team scoring leader Branko Segota, has yet to return to form after missing much of the second half of the season with a strained arch. Segota’s hamstring has fully healed, Socker trainer Bill Taylor said. But his shot hasn’t. Socker Coach Ron Newman said he is hoping to get more production from both players as the playoffs progress.
Newman said he might make changes in the lineup tonight. Chris Chueden, who didn’t dress for Saturday’s game, will make the trip and allow Newman more options in the midfield.
In the long run, Saturday’s loss might benefit the Sockers, serving as a reminder that Dallas is capable of scoring an upset in this series. The Sidekicks were the Sockers’ first choice as a playoff opponent, but if overconfidence was a problem before the series began, it shouldn’t be after Saturday.
“You should shake it off, but you should remember it,” Crow said. “Hopefully we’ll learn a lesson from it. I don’t think we’ve turned up the intensity like the other teams have. That concerns me.”
The Sockers are 2-2 this season in Dallas, winning, 2-1 and 7-1, and losing, 4-3 and 5-3. Saturday’s was the first Sidekick victory at the Sports Arena this season.
With a laugh, Newman says the Sockers’ biggest problem is this: “The commissioner allows them to have the same number of players in the playoffs as we do, and that’s a pain in the (tail) sometimes.”
Socker Notes
Tonight’s game will be telecast live on Prime Ticket at 5:35 p.m. and tape delayed on XTRA (690) at 7:25 . . . Forward Steve Zungul leads the Socker offense in the playoffs with seven points--two goals and five assists.
