Sockers Are Lost in Dallas : Little Goes Right as Sidekicks Roll, Tie Series at 2-2

Even the few moments that should have been cause for good cheer for the Sockers were a bit tainted Saturday night in the fourth game of the Major Indoor Soccer League playoff semifinal series at Reunion Arena.

In the second quarter of what was to become a 7-3 Sidekick victory, Socker forward Steve Zungul slipped behind the Sidekick defense to score on a nifty crossing pass from Branko Segota. It looked a little like the previous night’s game-winner, crisp and well-timed. The Sockers trailed, 4-2.

Seconds later, during a moment usually reserved for high fives and felicitations, Zungul and teammate Waad Hirmez were exiting the carpet yelling at each other; a strategy disagreement. By the time they got to the Sockers’ bench, Zungul had to be restrained by Coach Ron Newman.

“Just a misunderstanding on the field,” Hirmez said. “No big deal. It was about a play or something.”

“Those things happen when you’re a little bit nervous,” Zungul said.

Zungul and Hirmez sat down later in the quarter and ironed out their differences. And in the locker room after the game, Hirmez leaned over, kissed Zungul’s ring, said the veteran forward is like a brother to him and cracked a smile.

Socker smiles on this evening were scarce. The same team that won in dramatic fashion the night before never found harmony, suffering its worst loss since March 4 (7-3 to Baltimore) before 7,015. The best-of-seven series is now tied at two games each and will resume here Tuesday night at 5:35.

Things got so bad Saturday that Newman pulled the goal-keeper Victor Nogueira and inserted a sixth attacker, a measure usually reserved for the final minutes, just 19 seconds into the fourth quarter. It didn’t help. The Sockers, trailing, 7-2, at the time following Tatu’s second goal of the series, managed only a late score by forward Zoran Karic.

Socker mistakes were frequent, and the phrase “one of those nights” was heard just as frequently after the final ball was played.

Nogueira, nearly flawless through much of the season, had two seemingly harmless shots bounce off his hands. Both were followed for Sidekick goals. Midfielder Mark Karpun got the first for a 1-0 lead in the first quarter. Marcio Leite scored the other, making it 6-2 late in the third quarter.

Brian Quinn and Kevin Crow, five-year Socker veterans, made mistakes that cost two more goals.

Quinn attempted a pass on the left sideline. Sidekick midfielder Kevin Smith got in the way, controlled the ball for a second, turned and drilled it past Nogueira.

“Just the most atrocious missed kick ever,” Quinn said. “Sometimes you try to be too cute, and you get punished. I just hope my son wasn’t watching.”

Crow fell victim to miscommunication. He thought he heard Nogueira calling for the ball and didn’t realize his mistake until Bruno Ferretti had intercepted. Ferretti passed to Tatu. Tatu passed to Smith. Smith scored. Sidekicks 5, Sockers 2.

“That’s the way things are going right now,” Crow said. “We’re not acting, we’re reacting. When you react, you’re always a step behind.”

That fifth Sidekick goal might just as well have been the 25th. The Sockers were too far gone to salvage. They made some good individual plays, but few were strung together.

“We didn’t connect everything,” Zungul said.

All the while, the Sidekicks held their intensity and continued taking charges at Nogueira. None of their goals were particularly artful. Call it a blue-collar effort from a blue-collar team, hard working from start to finish with a little luck mixed in.

“I’ve always thought that you have to be lucky to win games, and you have to be good to be lucky,” Sidekick Coach Billy Phillips said. “We had both of them tonight. If we lose this, the series is over.”

So the series remains very much alive and kicking, if you will. Game 5 is important, though several of the Sockers said if they lose at home they don’t deserve to win a championship. Game 6 and, if needed, Game 7 would be played in San Diego.

The mistakes, the Sockers hope, will be lost and forgotten by Tuesday and, if nothing else, left in Dallas.

“A lot of people we rely on on this team, including myself, didn’t come through,” Quinn said. “The emotion level wasn’t the same.”

Just “one of those nights.”

“Most unusual people making the mistakes,” Newman said. “All the players that have saved us over the years or over the season.”