Sockers Help Someone Else Out of Slump

The Sockers ran into another team desperate for a victory on Friday night, and they paid dearly for it.

Kansas City’s Greg Ion took a pass off the boards from Dale Mitchell and scored with 26 seconds left, giving the the Comets a 4-3 victory and snapping their four-game losing streak.

It was the Sockers’ second loss in three nights to a team in dire need of a victory. Wednesday, the Wichita Wings snapped a three-game losing streak by defeating them, 4-2.

“This was a game for us to take,” Sockers defender Kevin Crow said, “and we didn’t pull it out. Give them credit for sticking with it, but that game was for the taking.”

Indeed, the Sockers (4-4) appeared to have the game in hand late in the fourth quarter. First-year forward Rod Castro gave them a 3-2 lead with his eighth goal and second of the game 7:03 into the fourth quarter. But Kansas City caught the Sockers on two counter-attacks, and Jan Goossens and Ion scored goals within 3:03 of each other, giving the Comets (4-4) their first victory since Halloween.

Achieved in front of 13,390 at Kemper Arena, it was paramount to the Comets, who play their next four games on the road, including next Tuesday at the San Diego Sports Arena.

“I thought maybe we deserved to win,” Sockers Coach Ron Newman said. “It could have gone either way. It certainly was a game we didn’t deserve to lose. I just thought Lady Luck jumped out of the seats and landed right in (Comet Coach) Dave Clements’ lap.”

Of Ion’s game-winner, Newman said, “It was a nothing ball, really, and he barely reached it and got a toe on it, and it landed in the net.

“It’s the kind of goal you dream about.”

Ion made it come true after Mitchell played the ball off the boards and in front of Sockers goalkeeper Victor Nogueira.

“What Mitchell did for me was attract my man (Jim Gabarra),” Ion said, “and I shouted for him to play it off the boards, and it was just far enough in front of me to get a toe on it.

“Maybe this will get us going again. A game like this tends to do that. All of a sudden, it picks you up, and it gives you confidence in a lot of things instead of second-guessing yourself all the time.”

Socker Notes

The Sockers had a 5:30 wake-up call this morning in order to return home for tonight’s 7:35 game against the Baltimore Blast at the Sports Arena. It will be the first meeting between the two teams since the Sockers defeated Baltimore in the MISL Championship Series last spring. . . . Kansas City visits the Sockers on Tuesday night. . . . Former Charger Coach Al Saunders, now the receivers coach for the Kansas City Chiefs, attended Friday night’s game.