The Magic Is Back for Sockers : MISL: Coach Ron Newman was smiling after his team routed the Kansas City Comets Friday night, 7-1, for the Sockers’ third victory in a row.

We haven’t seen this look on Ron Newman’s face for a long, long time.

The coach of the Sockers walked off the field and into the locker room Friday night wearing the expression of a guy who has just completed his income tax form and discovered Uncle Sam owes him some change. His team had just stomped on the Kansas City Comets, 7-1, before 7,367 at the San Diego Sports Arena. The Sockers (18-21) have now won three in a row for the first time since November 18th. And keep in mind, Kansas City (22-18) had won nine of 10 games before arriving in San Diego.

“All right,” said Newman, clenching his fist and waving it in the air for all to see. “That can’t be a fluke can it? Maybe there is something there after all.

“We’re getting rewarded when we work hard. We’ve just got to keep it going.”

All of a sudden, the little things are going right. Newman sometimes calls it “kissing the Blarney stone,” which is the Irish equivalent to “Hey man, you got lucky.”

Certainly, the Sockers reaped the benefits of good fortune Friday, scoring their first two goals off deflections. Yet the nice bounces usually don’t happen unless a team is light on its feet. In the past two games, the Sockers have found something they’ve been missing all season: enthusiasm and consistency.

The spunk is hard to miss. Witness rookie defender Donald Cogsville leaping into the arms of his teammate, Cacho, after scoring the first goal of his career to put the Sockers ahead, 2-1, early in the second quarter. And Paul Wright flying off the bench in the third quarter to steal a Comet pass and give the Sockers possession.

This is the stuff that wins championships. The stuff that makes players around the Major Indoor Soccer League start to wonder if this team has patched itself back together in time to keep their mystique for yet another season.

“The team’s a lot happier,” said Branko Segota, who scored two goals to give him five in two games. “Everybody’s trying to help each other out right now.”

Players who were less involved in the past are suddenly involved. Defender Kevin Crow missed Friday’s game to attend his grandmother’s funeral in the Fresno area. That snapped a streak of 87 games in a row for Crow. No matter. Forward Jim Gabarra switched back to defense, played solidly and even scored when goalie Jim Gorsek, a former Socker, let a shot through his legs in the fourth quarter.

Midfielder Waad Hirmez received credit for the Sockers’ first goal in the first quarter when a shot by defender George Fernandez bounced off his back and passed Gorsek.

Comet midfielder Kevin Hundelt scored off a rebound pass from forward Ted Eck to make it 1-1. After Cogsville’s goal, Branko Segota scored with his left foot from 25 feet to give the Sockers a 3-1 lead going into halftime.

Everything was simple after that. The second half consisted of third quarter goals from Segota and midfielder Ben Collins and fourth-quarter goals from Cacho and then Gabarra.

Perhaps more important than the scoring outburst, was the tireless team defense, which allowed goalie Victor Nogueira (9-10) to pick up the victory with just nine saves.

“We’re playing totally differently,” Nogueira said. “I was very lucky. I hardly had any shots, which says a lot for the defense.”

Nothing spectacular, said Gorsek. Just sweat and effort.

“They worked hard tonight,” he said. “They weren’t doing anything special. They were moving as a team all over the field.”

Younger players such as Cogsville, Thien Nguyen and Wes Wade are providing inspiration for the veterans.

“The young guys have the heart,” Fernandez said. “They’ve lifted the team. They want to get out there and they’re hungry.”

And with that, the rest of the team is developing an appetite of its own.

Socker Notes

Paul Wright, moved from forward to midfielder since his return to San Diego in the Zoran Karic trade, doesn’t seem to mind his new role. “That’s what the plan was, to put Branko (Segota) up front and let him do what he does best,” Wright said. “Let me do the hard work.” Playing his first game at forward last Tuesday, Segota had three goals and two assists in the Sockers’ 9-3 victory over St. Louis. . . . Midfielder Brian Quinn (tendinitis of the groin) missed his sixth consecutive game. Also out of uniform was veteran forward Steve Zungul, who has now missed four games in a row.