Sockers Again in Double Trouble, Lose
It started out like a bad television sitcom, with enough laughable play, pitiful passing and missed coverage to offend even the heartiest soccer fans.
It evolved into a rerun, yet another chapter in the MISL history between the Sockers and the Baltimore Blast, who have three times met to decide the MISL championship.
But before it ended, Wednesday night’s game had dragged on into a mini-series, an unwelcome turn of events for the Sockers. Little-used Glenn Carbonara beat Sockers goalkeeper Victor Nogueira to the short side with a 35-foot shot from the right wing to give the Blast (21-11) a 7-6 victory 7:06 into the second sudden-death overtime.
The game lasted 82:06, making it the third longest game in Socker history. Only three days before, they had lost another double-overtime game, 5-4, in Cleveland.
Their fourth loss in a row dropped the Sockers (13-18) into fourth place in the Western Division. They trail the Tacoma Stars (14-19), 6-2 winners in St. Louis Wednesday, by percentage points.
“When you go on the road, you don’t look for those things (double-overtime games) to happen, much less two times in a row,” said Ron Newman, the Sockers’ coach. “I don’t think our lads could have played any better. In the end, it was a lack of stamina; we’re just not that fit yet.”
True, the Sockers played well. They outshot the Blast, 51-35, and Nogueira made a handful of incredible saves among his 19. The looked to be anything but a last-place team.
But their own ineptitude--or was it bad luck--eventually did them in.
Two of the Blast’s goals caromed in off defender Kevin Crow, something Newman said he had never before seen. Four others came when Sockers defenders missed their marking assignments in or around the penalty area. It was enough to turn Nogueira’s stomach.
“It’s so frustrating, but that’s the way they always seem to score on us,” he said. “Balls bounce off the boards or someone, and their players get goals.”
But the game-winner was not among the evening’s flukes. Carbonara merely wound up and let it fly after accepting a cross-field feed from Mike Stankovic.
It was Carbonara’s second goal of the season, the third of his two-year MISL career. Both goals this year have been game-winners, and both have come in the past five days.
Nogueira said he was not screened but that a Blast player bumped him, impeding his ability to pick up the shot until it was too late. He stretched out his right arm, but to no avail.
“Someone bumped into me on my right,” Nogueira said. “He set a pick. I didn’t see the shot. I only saw the ball at the last second.”
Said Carbonara: “At that point in the game, we just wanted it to be over. You just hope someone scores to win the game, and you hope it’s your team.”
Carbonara was left open because the Sockers fell for a ploy by Blast Coach Kenny Cooper, designed after regulation to force Socker defenders to double-team a Baltimore forward.
In the first overtime, Cooper moved Stankovic up front with Carl Valentine and Peter Ward, with Carbonara taking Stankovic’s place on the red line.
“I figured they’d have to double-team somebody,” Cooper said, “either Stankovic or Valentine or Ward. It’s such a tactical game at that point. You’re looking for different matchups.”
Zoran Karic, object of some rough treatment from Blast defenders, forced overtime with his second goal with 3:25 left in regulation. The Sockers were on a power play and had Brian Quinn on as a sixth attacker, giving them a two-man advantage. Blast defender Bruce Savage was out for dumping Karic in the midfield.
