Sockers Lead Series, but Newman Says They Can Play Even Better

Ice packs wrapped around battered legs outnumbered the whoops and hollers in the Sockers’ locker room Friday night.

The mood was somewhere between cautious and business-like.

You would think a 5-2 victory over the Baltimore Blast in Game 3 of the Major Indoor Soccer League championships would call for some levity, some celebration. The Sockers had taken a 2-1 lead in this best-of-seven series with a performance that seemed, for the first time in the playoffs, neat and efficient.

Yet Socker Coach Ron Newman, perched before writers who were expecting him to praise his players, explained that his team is capable of better. Predictions of a series-ending sweep of the games in San Diego were on hold approaching Game 4 tonight at 6:05 in the Sports Arena.

Newman is still campaigning for the underdog billing, though his team led, 4-0, at halftime Friday and was never in danger of letting the game slip from its clutches. He just wasn’t particularly impressed.

“No,” he said. “I thought we could play better. It was individual efforts that got the goals rather than a nice pattern of team play.”

Fair enough. But the individual efforts indicate the individuals are healthier than they have been in quite awhile. Branko Segota returned, thigh heavily wrapped to protect a tender hamstring, to score a goal and assist on another. He summed up his hamstring’s status by saying simply: “It felt pretty good.”

Midfielder Brian Quinn, sidelined through much of the season with injuries, had his most productive outing of the playoffs, scoring twice and assisting once. His second goal, the Sockers’ fifth, reduced the possibility of another late Blast comeback.

“I think (it) was critical because it gave us a breath when they put in the sixth attacker,” Newman said.

The Sockers, who have scored the first goal in the past five playoff games, have difficulty coping with a sixth attacker, evidenced by last-minute Baltimore goals in Games 1 and 2. Goalie Victor Nogueira has been steady, sometimes spectacular, though his playoff statistics have been damaged slightly by what defender Kevin Crow terms “scrappy goals.” Definition: goals achieved on hustle alone, scored because of a funny bounce or deflection.

Baltimore scores often from close range. The key to defending that, Crow says, is pressuring away from the goal, preventing the offense from controlling possession and tiring the defense.

Any underdog status the Sockers had when the series began probably was erased when Baltimore lost its top defender, Bruce Savage. Savage, second behind Crow for the MISL defender of the year award, went down with a right ankle sprain in Tuesday’s game and isn’t expected to return. Also missing from the Blast lineup Friday was defender Tim Wittman, but he will likely return tonight.

These injuries, coupled with Segota’s return, make Baltimore’s task increasingly difficult here in San Diego, particularly considering the advantage the Sockers gain from crowd support. Friday’s attendance of 11,484 was 15th largest in team history. In those 15 games, these hams of the kicking industry have lost but once. At home against Baltimore in the playoffs, the Sockers are 7-0.

Still, nothing is being taken for granted. Defender Ralph Black, with scrapes and bruises to show for his aggressive slide tackles, was making that point Friday night. He thinks there’s a lot more to the Blast than has been displayed so far.

“I think we’ll see a different Baltimore team out there next game,” he said. “If we’re not up to par, we’re going to be in for a tough night.”

And nobody admits to thinking about a Socker sweep.

“The only thing we can be concerned about now is (tonight),” Crow said. “If we start looking at the next game, they’ll take one from us.”