Sockers Beaten, 4-3, in Overtime by Stars

In the final analysis, it was just another of the great Major Indoor Soccer League games that the Sockers and Tacoma Stars routinely seem to play here.

And Saturday night, before 11,199 Tacoma Dome fans, it boiled down to which team wanted it more.

On this night, it was Tacoma, but it took overtime to do it, 4-3. Mark Kerlin, the former Wichita forward, converted the rebound of his own ball off the near boards, punching a low drive past a beaten Victor Nogueira at the 10:01 mark.

“It was another great game up here,” said Socker Coach Ron Newman. “They should double the price when we play Tacoma.”

Kerlin was almost blase about his game-winner.

“I like to play the boards in spots like that,” said Kerlin, the 17th player signed by Tacoma this season. “I think sometimes it will bounce to one of my teammates or to myself.

“This time, he (Nogueira) didn’t handle it. I just hit it hard with my right foot.”

It was the 10th overtime game between the two Western Division rivals and the third in a row won by Tacoma.

The swift ending didn’t reinforce Newman’s sense of justice.

“I was quite pleased with the way we played,” Newman said. “I thought we dominated most of the game. But when I looked up at halftime, we were ahead, 1-0, and I thought we should have been up, 4-0. I knew that could be trouble.”

It was.

Sockers had a great chance to cash in early in the overtime, but Zoran Karic couldn’t find the handle on a one-on-one against Tacoma keeper A.J. Lachowecki and fired wide.

“It was just one of those days,” Newman said of Karic’s chance.

The key play for Tacoma might have come when defender Billy Crook took Socker ace Branko Segota down hard in the fourth quarter. Segota played afterward, but he was at half speed.

“He was out there in the overtime, but he couldn’t turn or anything,” Newman said. “I was down to two healthy lines, and we had to put too many kids out there.”

It was also a game of changing momentum. The Sockers dominated early and led, 1-0, but seemed to give up the ghost in the second half as Tacoma scored three consecutive goals for a 3-1 lead. The Sockers charged back in the fourth quarter to earn the 3-3 tie. Socker Notes

Sockers Coach Ron Newman moved Branko Segota to the second line and started Steve Zungul, apparently because Tacoma’s Neil Megson plays Segota tough. . . . The Sockers played without highly regarded rookie Rod Castro, injured in Friday’s game against Kansas City. “He wanted to come,” said Newman, “but he couldn’t get out of bed.” . . . Sockers radio announcer Dick Calvert, who spent the prior four seasons as the Tacoma broadcaster, was the object of considerable press-box attention . . . The Sockers will have eight days off to rest their assorted bruises. Their next match is Sunday against Dallas at the Sports Arena.