Blast Disappoints Sockers’ Fans Again : MISL finals: If the Sockers are going to win another title, they will have to do so in Baltimore for the second consecutive year. Their comeback fell short, 3-2, in Game 5 of the best-of-seven series.
This wasn’t exactly an instant replay, but the result was the same.
For the second year in a row, the Sockers proved to be allergic to a full house and an opportunity to win a MISL championship at home.
A sellout crowd of 12,884 in the San Diego Sports Arena did a lot of yelling Wednesday night. And the Sockers did a lot of shooting, taking 34 shots to Baltimore’s 17.
But it was the Baltimore Blast that found ways to get the ball into the net more times. In doing so, they discovered a way to stop the steam-rolling Sockers and throw water on a fiery, exciting charge in the final minutes.
Final score: Blast 3, Sockers 2.
The Sockers still lead the series, 3-2, but will now have to win the championship in Baltimore. This is the same course of events as last year, when they lost, 6-3, in Game 5. In Game 6, Baltimore took them apart, 7-0, before the Sockers pulled it out, 6-5, in Game 7.
The work rate of both teams was outstanding Wednesday night. Baltimore just spread it out more, taking a 3-0 lead early in the fourth quarter on a goal by former Socker Paul Dougherty. This looked to be as good a time as any for the Sockers to confirm reservations on today’s flight to Baltimore, but they created quite a stir before going down.
A minute and three seconds after the Sockers pulled goalie Zoltan Toth for sixth attacker Kevin Crow, midfielder Branko Segota swerved through a crowd and fired the ball past Blast goalie Scott Manning.
Less than four minutes later, midfielder Brian Quinn made a nice fake over the top of the ball and scored from 30 feet with his left foot.
The crowd went nuts. But unfortunately for the Sockers, forward Paul Wright’s shot from inside the penalty box with 1:40 to play bounced just wide of the left post, and the Blast held on to their victory and kept the champagne corks in San Diego capped for a second consecutive season.
“It’s disappointing, of course,” Socker Coach Ron Newman said. “I know the pressure the players are under. It’s very difficult to take the pressure off them. I’ve got to rebuild their confidence.”
Make no mistake. The Sockers wanted this one badly, and they played that way. Everybody was running up and down the field until it was over. Vacation in San Diego looked a darn sight better than one more game in Baltimore, maybe two.
“This team has a lot of character,” Crow said. “We showed it. Believe me, we wanted to win it in front of our fans. It just wasn’t meant to be.”
A big reason for that was Manning, who stretched, dived and slid to get nearly every ball in his sights. He finished with 14 saves and his sixth victory of the playoffs in eight starts.
Manning wasn’t much for words afterward. He said only: “I don’t have anything to say except we’re going home.”
And Blast Coach Kenny Cooper, who has lost three previous championship series to the Sockers, is as happy as anybody about that. He predicted after the Sockers won Game 2 that the series would return to Baltimore. He came awfully close to being wrong.
“I’m more than proud,” Cooper said. “It’s been a long week. If we had lost this game it would have been a great setback for us.”
Baltimore opened the scoring with 3:36 remaining in the first quarter when defender Mike Stankovic hit a crossing pass into the middle of the penalty box, and forward Domenic Mobilio touched it in.
The Sockers did a lot in the first half--everything, that is, but score. They created a host of opportunities that were foiled by either the posts or Manning. Baltimore did a nice job of creating a logjam in the penalty box, which forced the Sockers to take longer shots. And Manning isn’t easily beaten by the long ball.
The Sockers got a break early in the third quarter when Blast defender Rusty Troy got open a few feet from the left post, gathered the ball off the boards after a shot by midfielder Carl Valentine and missed an open net. Toth had been pulled out of the box by Valentine’s shot. Troy, who didn’t play the first half, looked as if he still needed a few more warm-up kicks.
Soon after, though, the Blast took control. Toth made a poorly targeted outlet pass into the middle of the field, and it was intercepted by midfielder Freddie Thompson, who passed to Valentine. Valentine sent a pass off the boards to forward Peter Ward, who banged it in from 15 feet.
Things got exciting after that, but Baltimore ultimately accomplished what it set out to do. And the Sockers now have to achieve their championship in front of unfriendly fans.
“What are you going to do?” Segota asked. “We all made mistakes. We didn’t come to play. They took us out of our rhythm.”
Socker Notes
Blast midfielder Billy Ronson missed Monday’s game with a stomach virus but played full shifts Wednesday. Blast defender Tim Wittman, who tore cartilage in his right knee during Monday’s game, did not suit up Wednesday. Blast defender Mike Reynolds, who missed the four previous games with a right foot sprain, returned to action but played sparingly after the first quarter. . . . The Sockers played Wednesday’s game free from major injuries, though defender Kevin Crow is still having problems with the abdominal strain he sustained in Game 2 of the Western Division finals against Dallas. . . . Rookie defender Don Cogsville did not suit up for the seventh game in a row.
