For Seventh Game in Row, Sockers Fail to Solve Wichita Mystery

Seven in a row. The beat goes on fueled by something nobody can put their finger on.

The Wichita Wings won their seventh game in a row Saturday night over the San Diego Sockers, a team that at one time dominated them.

The Wings left no doubt about it, hammering the five-time Major Indoor Soccer League champions, 9-5.

San Diego was not only at full strength and healthy, but was also playing its best soccer of the year.

Sockers Coach Ron Newman admitted he was shocked by the streak, especially because his team had won four in a row and, until Saturday night, their passing and finishing was “immaculate.”

No other team has ever beaten the Sockers more than five in a row.

“Seven straight to anybody is a bit of a strange product,” said Newman. “As long as we don’t lose seven to them in the playoffs.”

The man of the hour was Keder, a former Socker who came to the Wings Jan. 20 in a trade with the Baltimore Blast.

Keder scored a hat trick to run his scoring streak to nine goals in the last eight games. His last two goals were the ones that put the game out of reach.

The Wings built a 4-2 lead but the Sockers got within a goal at 4-3 when Jacques Ladouceur’s 35-foot shot hit the crossbar and bounced into the goal off Wings’ defender Victor Moreland.

Then the roof fell in.

Wings defender Gregg Willin worked the ball into the penalty area and found Dale Ervine open at the right post. Ervine buried the shot to make it 5-3.

Then with 44 seconds left in the first half, the Sockers’ Waad Hirmez was sentenced to two minutes for elbowing and Keder scored a power play goal just seven seconds before halftime.

“Every bounce went the wrong way for us,” said Newman. “Gradually, you could see the lads’ confidence starting to wane again. Any time Wichita had the ball we didn’t seem to be able to do anything about it.”

Newman said he would have been happy to go into the halftime trailing 4-3. He figured there would still be time to get organized.

“And at 6-3, I thought we could still do it, the way we play. And then they go and get this weird seventh goal.”

It was weird because Ervine, on a breakaway, sent a pass off the end boards that got around goalkeeper Victor Nogueira and Keder got a foot on the ball sliding in and it trickled across the goal line.

After the game, Keder and Newman embraced. Keder scored 28 goals for Newman and the Sockers as a newcomer in 1987-88. Newman waived him early in 1988-89.

“Ron Newman bring me here to America,” said Keder. “It was good to show him that he should keep me, you know.”

Keder played his best all-around game of the season, not only scoring but also working hard on defense.

Keder scored his second goal on a power play just seven seconds before halftime on a pass from Willin.

Four minutes earlier, Willin worked the ball into the penalty area and found Ervine open near the right post. Ervine buried the shot. Ervine later scored a second goal on a 135-foot shot into an open net against a sixth attacker. That gave Ervine 38 goals for the season, second only to league scoring leader Tatu of the Dallas Sidekicks.

Even after the Wings opened up leads of three and four goals, they kept high pressure on the Sockers.

“We didn’t want to give them an inch,” said Nicholl. “I wanted to make it as difficult as possible for San Diego to play against us, just as Baltimore did against us in our last game.”

Branko Segota got the Sockers on the scoreboard first, running onto a crossing pass from Cacho to tap in a shot from six feet between two Wings.