Sockers Win, 6-5, in Overtime for First Victory of Season
Glenn Carbonara and Paul Dougherty, two players who weren’t even with the Sockers last season, played vital roles in the club’s first victory of the season, a 6-5 overtime decision Friday night over the St. Louis Storm.
Carbonara, a defender picked up from the Baltimore Blast on Oct. 23, scored two goals and played well defensively. Dougherty, an Englishman who was with the club two years ago, was signed Oct. 17 but couldn’t play until Friday because of visa problems. He scored the winning goal in overtime.
“We were practicing and playing the game at the same time with some of these players,” said Sockers coach Ron Newman. “This hasn’t been easy for us. I could see us going 0-4 with no problem at all. This was really a big win for us.”
With Carbonara and Ben Collins, who usually plays midfield, anchoring the back line along with veteran Kevin Crow, the Sockers bent but never broke.
“We need the guys to keep working hard like they did tonight to get us over this part of the season,” said Crow. “With Branko (Segota) and Brian Quinn out, we all have to keep up the hard work. It paid off tonight.”
The Sockers held a 2-1 lead at halftime, thanks to some sloppy play by the Storm defense. The Storm took a 1-0 lead at 1:51 of the first quarter when Preki scored from just inside the red line to the lower right corner past Victor Nogueira.
Jim Gabarra tied the score at 1-1 at 8:53 of the first when he took a pass from Waad Hirmez. Hirmez banked the ball off the boards to a open Gabarra in front of the Storm goal. With defenders Daryl Doran and Mark Frederickson away from the ball and former Socker goalie Zoltan Toth out of the play, Gabarra scored easily.
The Storm applied pressure late in the quarter, with Bobo Lucic being stopped by Nogueira inside the box. Thompson Usiyan had the keeper beaten with 53 seconds left in the quarter, but his shot glanced off the crossbar.
Consistent play from Wes Wade and Jacques Ladouceur gave the Sockers a 2-1 lead with just 42 seconds left in the first half. Wade took the ball off the boards after the Storm couldn’t clear it and hit Ladouceur, who scored to the short side of Toth.
Preki tied the game at 2-2 at 10:10 of the third when he used Carbonara as a screen and shot under Nogueira.
The Storm went up 3-2 at 11:40, when Terry Brown took the ball from Carbonara in the corner and scored on the short side.
But the Sockers came right back when Carbonara scored his first goal of the game to tie the game at 3-3 with 12:15 left.
The Storm took a 4-3 lead with 7:36 left in the fourth when Gabarra scored from the cornerkick spot under Nogueira. Gabarra tied the game again at 7:48 when he scored from the short side.