Segota Sets Record, as Sockers Win Easily

Sockers forward Branko Segota clutched the ball in his hands Friday night and counted the signatures of his teammates on it.

“Hey guys, make sure everybody signs the ball,” Segota said. “This was just another goal, but the moment is special.”

It was Segota’s 255th goal for the Sockers, one ahead of the previous franchise record held by Juli Veee. The other reason to celebrate was the Sockers’ first road victory, 4-0, against the St. Louis Storm at the St. Louis Arena.

“I have to keep in front of my dad,” Segota said, jokingly referring to teammate Steve Zungul, the MISL’s all-time leading scorer. “We haven’t played that bad on the road. The back-to-back games have killed us.”

They have another tonight at 7:30 at the San Diego Sports Arena against Wichita. But the Sockers (6-5) could do no wrong against the Storm. St. Louis forwards pounded 32 shots at goalie Zoltan Toth, but he did not bend.

“(St. Louis) came out firing like we knew they would, but Zollie kept us in the game,” Segota said. “We just kept playing our game all along. We knew we would break out of this.”

Sockers Coach Ron Newman said his team was ready to break the road slump.

“We knew it was going to come around sooner or later,” Newman said. “You work on the first goal, the first road win, and then it falls into place.”

Segota said the Sockers actually have been playing better on the road than at home.

“We’re more relaxed playing on the road because there is no pressure, no home fans to worry about,” Segota said. “We were not pressing on the road.”

The Sockers went in front, 1-0, at 7:01 of the first quarter after Godfrey Ingram acted too quickly on a Storm free kick. Zungul blocked the kick, carried the ball down the left side and hit Waad Hirmez in the box for a easy tap-in past David Brcic.

Jim Gabarra found Zungul alone in the corner, and he pushed a shot through Brcic’s legs to make it 2-0 at 11:28 of the first quarter.

Segota made it 3-0 when he beat Brcic to the far post with 1:50 left in the half. Kevin Crow hit Segota down the left side, and he beat two defenders to score.