Stars’ Weller Still Haunting Sockers
What is it with this guy?
Keith Weller returned to his old stomping grounds for the second time since early December, when he left the Sockers and took over as coach of the Tacoma Stars.
On his first trip back, his team defeated the Sockers.
He made his second visit Friday at the San Diego Sports Arena. And guess what? Tacoma defeated the Sockers, 3-2, in overtime.
“I don’t know what it is,” Weller said. “We stole one. I don’t know what to say, really. I know how they feel because it’s tough.
Tacoma forward Kia punched in the game-winner, 1:15 into overtime. Forward Mark Kerlin sent a crossing pass into the middle. The Sockers’ Jacques Ladouceur charged to meet it. But Kia got there first and slipped it past goalie Zoltan Toth with his right foot.
So the Sockers (11-15) remained 4 1/2 games behind Dallas in the Western Division of the Major Indoor Soccer League. The Stars improved to 13-15.
Socker Coach Ron Newman was having trouble believing that the Sockers took 22 shots and only managed two goals. Tacoma got its three in 11 shots.
“It was unbelievable,” he said. “It was so one-sided. I don’t know what more to do.”
It was Kia who put the Stars ahead, 2-0, 2:49 into the fourth quarter, scoring his 12th goal of the season. Forward Mark Kerlin miss hit a shot, sending the ball bouncing into traffic in the middle of the penalty box. Kia redirected it into the right corner with his right foot.
Socker forward Jim Gabarra, who made his presence felt for just the second time this season by scoring the game-winner last Saturday in Cleveland, made it 2-1, connecting on a shot with his left foot. Socker defender Kevin Crow passed off the boards, and the ball nicked off midfielder Rick Davis and back to Gabarra.
With that, the crowd of 7,385 became playoff loud. And the Sockers responded, turning up the pace. Finally, with 1:51 remaining, midfielder Rod Castro gave the Sockers the goal they needed, scoring for the first time since Dec. 28.
On the goal, midfielder Waad Hirmez headed the ball into the penalty box. Castro shielded off midfielder Walter Schmetzer with his back, turned and sent a scorcher into the left corner.
Then came the fateful overtime.
The Sockers had a nice spring to their steps in the first half, but the only thing they had to show for it were noisy bounces off the boards. They outshot Tacoma, 10-3, and the Stars didn’t get a shot off until Andy Schmetzer let one fly at Toth 5:20 into the second quarter. Toth made the save.
Soon, the Stars made the Sockers pay for their missed opportunities. Just 1:59 into the third quarter, forward Mark Kerlin took a pass off the boards from midfielder Walter Schmetzer, faked right to freeze defender George Fernandez and sent the ball whistling by Toth with his left foot.
The rest of the quarter passed without a goal, though the Sockers had their chances. Late in the quarter, defender Kevin Crow and Gabarra took off on a breakaway. Gabarra knocked it to Crow, who appeared open to take a high-percentage shot. Instead, Crow hit the ball into the corner, sort of a half shot/half pass. Gabarra was unable to retrieve it.
A minute later, the Sockers’ Zoran Karic took a shot from the top of the penalty box, which was saved by goalie Cris Vaccaro. Standing wide open to the right of the goal was Cacho.
Often unnoticed in the commotion of a tight game are the subtleties of good defense. Well, maybe not always subtle. Defender Ralph Black, who isn’t afraid to bash into an occasional forward, made crucial blocks late in the third quarter and again in the fourth to keep the Sockers in the game.
