Hat Tricks by Wade, Dougherty Pace Sockers

Socker Coach Ron Newman has spent the first few weeks of the MSL season trying to figure out where Wes Wade fits into the lineup.

After what happened at the Baltimore Arena Friday night, Newman might have a solution.

Wade scored three goals, including the game-winner with three seconds left in regulation, to give the Sockers an 8-7 victory over the Baltimore Blast in front of a crowd of 7,423.

Paul Dougherty, who played last season with the Blast and was signed by the Sockers as a free agent in the off-season, added a hat trick in a rematch of last year’s MSL championship series won by the Sockers, four games to two.

Newman said Wade’s scoring output was a bonus--since Wade was inserted into the game as a defensive ploy.

“We put him up there to stop Baltimore from knocking balls into the corner,” Newman said. “We put him there to put pressure on Baltimore. We played him up there last year as a defensive runner, and he’s matured a bit.”

That’s what happened on the game-winner. With Socker defender Kevin Crow battling a pair of Blast players for a ball in the right corner, Wade sneaked into the penalty area.

Crow bounced a pass out of the corner, and Wade beat goalkeeper Hank Henry from 10 feet out.

“It was just a scramble in the corner. I fought off a defender and got just enough room. The ball hit at my foot. It was a little bit of luck, too,” Wade said.

Wade’s goal spoiled Henry’s Baltimore debut.

Henry, who had trained with the Sockers for two weeks before signing with the Blast Thursday, made 15 saves. His Sockers counterpart, Victor Nogueira, made 18 stops to help the Sockers break a three-game losing streak.

Wade said Blast Coach Kenny Cooper’s decision to start Henry against the Sockers “put too much pressure on him (Henry). He did a great job, but we got chances we shouldn’t have gotten and we put them in.” Newman said Baltimore (2-4) expected too much of Henry, whose MSL resume expanded to five games after Friday’s action.

“It’s a tough thing to ask of the boy,” Newman said. “We tried to make it as difficult as we could for him. But he didn’t make a big mistake that hurt Baltimore.”