Fast Goal by Karic, Sockers, Awakens Wings, Who Go On to 4-2 Victory

Zoran Karic scored two goals for the Sockers Wednesday night, including one that could have put the desperate Wichita Wings away.

Karic’s brilliant second effort made it 1-0 with only 1:07 elapsed. But the Sockers failed to capitalize and gave up a couple of cheap goals. Then Wichita forward Andy Chapman lifted the crowd of 6,224 out of their seats when he scored the third on a bicycle kick.

And the Wings, who had been outscored, 22-7, in losing three in a row, were off and flying to a 4-2 victory.

With just over a minute gone, Karic had Wings defender Tom Soehn hanging all over him on a run. Soehn blocked the shot, but on a second touch, Karic poked it into the net from 25 feet.

Both Wings Coach Terry Nicholl and Sockers Coach Ron Newman said that was the turning point.

Newman said he felt the Sockers could have put the game away if they had capitalized.

“We gave up a couple of horrendous goals, and it became a psychological warfare at that time,” Newman said. “If we could have kept on top of them for a half, I think they would have been really rattled.

“But they worked ever so hard. Give them every credit in the world. They worked much harder than us to get the result. Chico Borja (Wichita midfielder) was limping. He’s obviously not 100%, but he was back there tackling and double-teaming people. It was more like playoff intensity.

“We weren’t ready at this time of year to battle like that.”

“Honesty kept us in there,” said Nicholl, who laid the law down to the Wings after a 10-4 loss in Cleveland last Saturday. “If we had played like we did in Cleveland after that first goal, our heads would have dropped, and they would have put two or three in before I even had a chance to regroup.”

The victory left Wichita with a 4-4 record. The Sockers are 4-3.

It was the fourth career bicycle goal for Chapman, who had a hat trick in the last game and was celebrating his 400th appearance in the Major Indoor Soccer League. Only two other players have performed in 400 or more games.

Sockers’ goalkeeper Zoltan Toth was coming out for the ball and was totally unprepared for the shot, which gave Wichita a 3-1 lead.

“If he doesn’t do that, the ball is in my hands. Trust me,” Toth said. “It was the only thing that would beat me. I was surprised. It was so accurate.”

The Sockers kept Wings’ goalkeeper Ron Fearon under constant pressure down the stretch, but he made several outstanding saves to lift his record to 4-1.