Sockers Can’t Quite Cover for Absentees

Playing without most of their offensive punch, the Sockers nonetheless almost defeated the St. Louis Storm Wednesday night.

Socker midfielder Waad Hirmez didn’t make the trip because of a heel injury. Forward Zoran Karic flew back to San Diego Wednesday morning because of the death of his father-in-law. And forward Branko Segota was a late scratch because of a sore calf muscle.

That’s 38 of the Sockers’ 88 goals missing. And the Storm took advantage for a 4-2 victory that left them a game ahead of the Sockers and 2 1/2 behind first-place Dallas in the Western Division of the Major Indoor Soccer League. St. Louis is 11-11, the Sockers 10-12.

The absence of Segota was the most puzzling. He warmed up with the team, was placed on the lineup card by Coach Ron Newman but then left the field after the start of the game.

“I didn’t know about Branko until the game started,” Newman said. “I wish he would have let me known earlier that his calf was bothering him.”

Newman and the Sockers switched gears and played a more defensive-oriented game than usual. The tactic worked for more than half the game, giving them a 1-0 lead, but the Storm broke through in the third quarter.

Storm forward Stan Terlecki picked up a ball at midfield, beat George Fernandez down the right side and fired under goalie Zoltan Toth to tie the score with nine minutes 50 seconds left in the third quarter.

Storm defender Fernando Clavijo changed the tempo for good when he scored with 4:48 left in the game. Clavijo picked up a loose ball just short of midfield and blasted a shot past Toth into the upper right corner from some 120 feet away.

“Anytime you give up a goal at that stage of the game, it changes the tempo,” said Socker defender Kevin Crow. “We played a defensive game for so long, and we broke down.”

Marcio Leite made it 3-1 with 3:42 left when he beat Toth with a shot between his legs. Crow had come on as the sixth attacker, and the Sockers were applying pressure.

Wes Wade cut the lead to 3-2 with 1:41 left on a rebound, but the Sockers missed several chances in the closing minutes. Claudio De Oliveira put the game out of reach with 59 seconds remaining when he beat Crow.

“I thought we played very well for not having most of our people here,” Newman said. “We tried to play more disciplined soccer, and it worked for a while. Some of the guys we had on the field were not match fit. It was (Damir) Haraminas’ first full game.”

Toth had held the Storm scoreless for 115:12 this season until Terlecki scored.

“Zoltan is a great goalie, and you have to get him early if you want to win,” Clavijo said. “We had to win tonight. (The Sockers) knew exactly what they were doing even without their top players.”

The Sockers struggled in the first quarter, but Toth kept them in the game.

Daryl Doran tested Toth early from the left corner, but Toth kicked the ball wide. The Storm kept up the pressure in the second quarter when Gus Mokalis blasted a shot and Toth punched it wide.

Rod Castro finally got the Sockers’ offense going with 11:05 left in the half. Off a re-start, Castro had the ball in the box, but goalie Slobo Ilijevski slid to make the save.

Fernandez then had a open net with Ilijevski down and out of the play, but Michael Collins blocked Fernandez’s shot in the box.

Castro tested Ilijevski again with 2:59 left in the half, but Ilijevski stopped him from point-blank range in the box.

The Sockers finally got the ball past Ilijevski late in the half. Ben Collins was left alone on the far left goal post, and Jacques Ladouceur hit him with a perfect pass. Collins tapped the ball into the open net with 1:20 to play.