Sockers Lose Chance to Celebrate
The setting was right. The sellout crowd of 12,884 was louder than a New York subway station at rush hour.
The Sockers, with a 3-1 series lead, were a game from their seventh indoor championship. A victory would have meant a nice, happy celebration.
But the Sockers ran smack into a Baltimore Blast team that changed identities this week. Blast Coach Kenny Cooper earlier called this a team of destiny. Tuesday at the San Diego Sports Arena, this was a team of desperation.
And desperation was good enough. The Blast popped the Sockers’ hopes of clinching their first championship at home in three years, scoring three fourth-quarter goals and surviving a short San Diego surge to grab a 6-3 victory, narrowing the Sockers’ lead to 3-2 in this Major Indoor Soccer League championship series.
Basically, the Blast spoiled the celebration.
“We didn’t deserve to win it at home,” defender Kevin Crow said.
The series will resume Thursday night in Baltimore for Game 6 and, if needed, Saturday in Baltimore for Game 7.
The Sockers’ downfall started with a goal by Blast forward David Byrne 4:15 into the third quarter, which gave Baltimore a 3-2 lead.
It continued when Blast forward Domenic Mobilio stole the ball at midfield from Socker defender Gus Mokalis. Mokalis fell down, leaving Mobilio all alone with teammate Mark Mettrick sprinting down the carpet to his right. Goalie Victor Nogueira sprinted out to meet Mobilio, who tapped the ball neatly to Mettrick. Mettrick scored to give the Blast a 4-2 lead.
“That’s what it’s all about,” Cooper said. “We talked about stealing the ball.”
And stealing the fun.
“All we heard about was the celebration parties,” Cooper said. “We never looked as it was 3-1 down. It was a game.”
Perhaps Sockers Coach Ron Newman is more prophetic than many thought. He warned that Baltimore was good enough to come back at any point during this series.
“When you get Baltimore in a position where they’ve got nothing to lose, they’re a dangerous team,” Newman said.
Mokalis made amends of sorts for his blunder, scoring with eight minutes remaining to pull the Sockers within a goal. But Baltimore refused to release its grasp on this victory, which gives the Blast both momentum and home-field advantage.
“We’re going home,” Cooper said. “(The Sockers) are going to come to Baltimore and play well but we’re going home and our fans are going to come out.”
Baltimore took some spirit out of this sellout crowd just 1 minute 49 seconds into the first quarter, Freddie Thompson taking a crossing pass from Carl Valentine and sending it into the right corner of the goal.
But the Sockers responded.
Quinn pressured Blast goalie Scott Manning, forcing a deflection off Manning’s foot that sailed directly to Branko Segota’s forehead. Segota, situated just a few feet inside the red line, sent a header floating over Manning, who retreated quickly but couldn’t catch up. Tie game.
The Blast regained the lead on a nifty shot by Billy Ronson. With his back to the goal, Ronson struck the ball with his heel, sending it to the left of Nogueira.
Late in the first quarter, Zoran Karic, the Sockers’ leading scorer during the regular season, did something typical followed by something unusual. He scored, left-footed, tying the game. Then, he made his first visit to the plexiglass to slap hands with the fans. Championship game stuff.
The Sockers did some nice passing late in the second quarter but were unable to break the tie.
The third quarter was humming along uneventfully until just inside the final two minutes. Blast midfielder Mike Sweeney sent a corner kick deflecting off the boards. Byrne was waiting, touching it in from a few feet away for his second goal of the series and a 3-2 Blast advantage.
It was at that moment this momentum of this series changed. The crowd became less of a factor each time a Blast player took control of the ball. Mobilio’s steal merely punctuated the lost spirit.
Taking a look back, the Sockers missed their share of prime opportunities in the third quarter. Segota, wide open in front of the goal, took a pass from Karic but pushed it wide left. Paul Dougherty had an opportunity minutes later, but shot over the top of the goal when free at the red line.
The Blast scored two insurances goals late, after the Sockers had pulled Nogueira in favor of a sixth attacker. Carl Valentine got the first. Billy Ronson got the second, his second of the game and 16th of the series.
