Sockers in Sight of Finals : They First Need Deciding Victory Over Sidekicks

There were whispers that the time had finally come for the Sockers.

Questions swirled as fans filtered into the Sports Arena Thursday night for Game 6 of the semifinals of the Major Indoor Soccer League playoffs.

Branko Segota hadn’t looked his old self, and team captain Brian Quinn seemed to have lost confidence. The Sockers didn’t have much fight, much desire.

Surely, it was thought, this group didn’t have the tricks left to do what two previous Socker teams had done, come back from a 3-2 deficit to win a playoff series.

But the Sockers took the carpet and answered their doubters with nifty goals from Segota, assists from Quinn and a spring in their steps. The result was a 7-2 victory and a tie series, three games apiece.

Tonight at 7:35 in the San Diego Sports Arena, the Sockers will attempt to ride new-found emotion and run over the Sidekicks, who are as tough to get rid of as chewing gum stuck to a shoe.

“I’m hoping we can use (Thursday) night’s result to improve our game,” Socker Coach Ron Newman said. “I thought it was important that we had a substantial win because the players were losing confidence.”

Defender Kevin Crow said: “I think a lot of people had to look at themselves and realize they weren’t proud of what we had done the last couple of weeks.”

Tatu, the Sidekicks’ scoring leader, made this definitive statement after Thursday’s game: “I think the series is over.”

Sure, and the Sockers’ travel agent is already booking reservations to Baltimore. (The Blast leads Wichita, 3-1, in the other semifinal series). The Sockers aren’t buying it.

“He (Tatu) is a crafty young man,” Newman said. “I’m sure he’d like to put us in a sense of false security.”

Or maybe give his own team a kick start.

“He may say a few things that help (the players) get motivated,” Sidekick Coach Billy Phillips said. “He’s a true professional, like Branko or Steve Zungul.”

Zungul, 34, is playing like a kid in this series. His hair may be disappearing, but evidenced by his picturesque goal Thursday, his skill isn’t.

Zungul, tied with Segota for the team lead in playoff points with 12, brought the crowd to its feet with a turnaround, no-look goal that traveled from the right sideline and glanced in off the left post. Zungul, it seems, enjoys the playoffs.

“He’s still showing flashes of what he did 10 years ago,” Crow said. “This is the kind of situation that he thrives on.”

Segota, who hadn’t scored since the third game of the series, broke his slump with two important fourth-quarter goals.

“That’s what people are counting on,” Crow said, “for him to come through at times like that.”

“He’s a great player, and he did what great players do,” Phillips said. “I’m sure he was feeling the pressure to shine for his team.”

Now, the Sidekicks are feeling it. Which brings up a question arising from Thursday’s game. Why did Phillips elect to start Krys Sobieski in goal rather than Joe Papaleo? Papaleo has allowed eight goals in this series and is 3-0. Sobieski is 0-3, having allowed 19.

Phillips said the decision was difficult but made partly because Papaleo said the rotation should continue the way it has all season. Sobieski, elder of the two, also has more playoff experience.

“Sobieksi has been in more big games than any other keeper in the league,” said Phillips, who will likely start Papaleo tonight.

Tonight’s game is the big one. The Sockers appear prepared.

“I feel very positive,” Crow said. “For some weird reason over the last week we started worrying about what (the Sidekicks) were doing. We just have to worry about what we do, like we did in the last game.”