Sockers Hang On, Then Let It All Hang Out

These are the rare moments that turn grown men into children.

Moments of extreme emotion. Moments of tears. Moments of laughter.

The Sockers were the laughers. Fresh off their seventh indoor championship, won Saturday night with 6-5 victory over the Baltimore Blast in Game 7 of the Major Indoor Soccer League championship series in Baltimore Arena, the maturity level of each player dropped drastically. This was fourth-grade stuff. And it was fun.

These were kids at an amusement park, yelling, dancing and shouting on the arena carpet as many of the 11,220 spectators watched, wearing frowns and crossed arms.

“It’s the one time you can be a kid,” defender Kevin Crow said. “Nobody can blame you for it.”

There were also the tears. Those of Baltimore Coach Kenny Cooper, so sure he had finally put together a team that could take the teeth out of the Sockers’ dominance. And of Blast forward David Byrne, whose spirited play as the sixth attacker for 12:50 in the fourth quarter brought Baltimore back from a 6-1 deficit.

Byrne couldn’t pinpoint his feelings. “I can’t really say. Just really upset and disappointed.”

Cooper could. “I was gutted. We put on a hell of a show. But we came up short. That’s the toughest thing.”

Socker Coach Ron Newman, wearing the pungent scent of champagne on his dress shirt, was appropriately elated, but spoke of Cooper before praising his Sockers.

“I just really feel bad for Coop,” he said.

Before the game, Newman felt good. His team had been blown out, 7-0, in Game 6. But there were no long faces, no worries.

“I knew coming into this game we had a great chance,” said Newman, who opted to use a defensive strategy rather than running with Baltimore, as the Sockers had tried so unsuccessfully Thursday. “We had no nerves at all tonight.”

In a 1:58 span of the third quarter the Sockers melted sour memories of Thursday with three goals, giving them a 5-1 lead.

First, Branko Segota scored, assisted by Zoran Karic. Segota, who finished with two goals, an assist and the player of the game award, converted a penalty kick late in the second quarter to give the Sockers a 2-1 halftime lead.

Next, Brian Quinn took a pass from defender George Fernandez, swerved around forward Carl Valentine and popped in his seventh goal of the playoffs.

And after that, Steve Zungul, veteran of seven championship series and winner of six, sent a ball ball blocked by Karic into the upper right corner of the Blast goal.

The Blast was dead. The Sockers were champions. Right? Hardly.

A few jitters and tentative steps followed the Sockers through the fourth quarter. Waad Hirmez scored early in the period on an uncharacteristic blunder by Blast goalie Scott Manning, who let the shot bounce off his hands.

Manning took a seat. Byrne put on a goalie shirt. Things got exciting.

Midfielder Kai Haaskivi scored once, forward Domenic Mobilio three times. Suddenly the fans were standing and the Sockers were wondering.

“I think we were really shell shocked and caught off guard,” defender George Fernandez said.

Byrne distributed the passes nicely and also got away with a hand ball few could believe the referees missed. Standing well beyond the redline, Byrne dived to misdirect a long shot by Fernandez. Twelve seconds later Baltimore scored. The Sockers complained. The refs didn’t listen.

“(The shot) was going in,” Fernandez said. “You’ve just got to hand it to him. It was a great play on his part.”

A play the Sockers wouldn’t have forgiven if it had cost them the game.

“I think if that had cost us the championship it would have been the biggest travesty in MISL history,” Quinn said.

San Diego, lifted by the play of goalie Victor Nogueira, the championship series MVP, refused to release its clutch on this victory during the final 4:28. When the clock reached all zeros, everybody collapsed. Then, the Sockers celebrated in virtual silence.

Each Socker took a drink of champagne from the championship cup. For some, this was more than just a good feeling. It had shades of “Take that.” The doubters had gotten their answer.

“They said we couldn’t do it,” Fernandez said. “We proved them wrong. I’d just like to shove that in their faces. They can call us whatever they want, but when it comes right down to it, we’re the best.”

Quinn, now the owner of five championship rings, says each one is special, and unique.

“You love it for the moment,” he said. “You never know when it ends. This could be my last championship.”

So wraps a strange season, one that started with financial problems and ended with high fives, hugs and kisses. The ever unpredictable Sockers had again found a way.

“The nature of this team is to do things the hard way,” Crow said. “This is an emotional team. That’s why we have so many peaks and valleys.”

* NEW FACES, SAME RESULT

Sockers have a new lineup, but come away with another title. Dave Distel’s column, Page 13A.