Sockers Escape With 4-3 Overtime Victory

Let’s face it, the last thing the Sockers need in the second game of a back-to-back series is overtime. They have enough trouble shaking life into their weary bones for the required 60 minutes.

And Saturday at the San Diego Sports Arena, it was beginning to look like the same old thing. A crowd of 11,731 watched nervously as the Tacoma Stars (2-5) made a bid to to beat the Sockers (4-2) by the identical score they beat them by three times last season and once already this season. All in overtime.

But on this night, Cacho came back from darn near dead to score the game-winner with 1:56 remaining in overtime and give the Sockers a 4-3 victory.

Cacho sat in the locker room, left ankle heavily taped from an injury earlier in the game. He ate an orange. He said he would have had to have been dead to miss the rest of this one.

“Dead or the leg broken,” he said. “It’s nice. We were tired. This win is good.”

And important.

Said Socker Coach Ron Newman: “We needed this one so bad. We were so banged up on the bench. We desperately needed a win.”

In this game, the Sockers were set on proving they aren’t the slow-starting bunch they have been labeled. History shows that before the 11th game of the season, there is something missing. Last season, for instance, the Sockers were 2-4 after six games. Nobody really knows why.

“We don’t do it on purpose,” midfielder Brian Quinn said. “It’s not a preconceived notion where we say ‘It doesn’t matter.’ I don’t like that knock.”

So Saturday the Sockers had their chance to show everybody things have changed. Defender Kevin Crow was saying so before the game. “This is something where we can prove that you’re going to have to reckon with us early in the season.”

The Sockers tied the score, 3-3, 4:53 into the fourth quarter when Ralph Black took advantage of a misplaced header by Star midfielder Walter Schmetzer and scored with his left foot. Neither team could break the tie, though, and the game went to overtime. Black wound up leaving 6:32 into the overtime period with a left calf injury.

Injuries were par for the course in this game.

Considering what a nightmare the first half was for the Sockers, it’s a wonder they even made it through the game. First, the injury report:

--Defender Cacho. He went down when Star defender Joe Waters took a kick at the ball and instead connected with Cacho’s left foot. Cacho had to be helped off the carpet. He returned before halftime, but at less than full speed.

--Quinn. He took an early exit and did not return. That hurt more than a little, considering the Sockers are already thin at that position, with Ben Collins out with a thigh injury.

--Forward Steve Zungul. He got plowed over from behind by Tacoma midfielder David Hoggan. He spent a few moments on the ground, walked to the bench wearing a pained expression and proceeded to take a few minutes to shout at Hoggan, who was serving a two-minute penalty.

As if the injuries weren’t enough, Tacoma’s first two goals came ever so strangely. The Stars took a 1-0 lead 20 seconds into the game when defender Neil Megson took a shot that glanced off the back of midfielder Andy Schmetzer’s leg. Wait, it gets better.

When Cacho tripped, the Stars were on the power play. The ball rolled harmlessly--or harmfully--in front of the Socker goal, depending on your perspective. Easy pickings for Hoggan, who sent a shot whistling by goalie Victor Nogueira. Tacoma 2, Sockers 0.

The Sockers climbed back before the end of the first quarter on consecutive goals by midfielders Rod Castro (power play) and Branko Segota. Segota’s, which came with just 19 seconds remaining in the first quarter, could be tucked in the classic file. He took a pass from Black with two Tacoma defenders on his back, trapped the ball, spun and drilled it by goalie A.J. Lachowecki to tie the score.

Tacoma midfielder Ali Kazemaini put the Stars ahead, 3-2, with a goal 6:45 into the second quarter off an assist from Hoggan.

Socker Notes

Goalie Zoltan Toth may miss his next start because of a bruised shoulder sustained in the Sockers’ 7-4 victory over the St. Louis Storm Friday night. Toth played most of the second half with the injury, which he believed was a separation at the time. Victor Nogueira, the Sockers’ other goalie, did not suit up, meaning defender George Fernandez would have been called on to fill in if Toth hadn’t been able to continue. . . . Rookie Rod Castro has scored a goal in all five games he has played. But before Friday’s game, Castro said he wanted to concentrate more on picking up a couple of assists. Instead, he went out and scored two goals. And still, after the game, he was talking about assists. “I try and try, and I just can’t get them,” he said. “I think I’m going to work on that from now on.” . . . The Sockers played their first penalty-free game of the season Friday night.