Quinn’s ‘Big One’ Boosts the Sockers

After starting the season with a 1-5 record, the last thing San Diego Socker Coach Ron Newman wanted to do was take his club east.

But after Sunday’s 7-6 victory over the Cleveland Crunch in a Major Soccer League game at the Richfield Coliseum, Newman can return home proud.

“There isn’t really that much of a difference in our play right now, but we’re winning,” said Newman, whose Sockers won both games of their two-game road trip. “We’re scoring a lot of goals, but we’re giving up some, too. The only difference is we’re getting the big ones.”

Sunday’s big one came off the right foot of Socker midfielder Brian Quinn with 39 seconds remaining. Quinn, who was playing in only his second match after sitting out the first six because of a groin strain, drove the game-winner on the left boards from 40 feet past Crunch goalie P.J. Johns.

“After they tied the match (6-6 with 1:52 left), we just wanted to keep going at them,” Quinn said. “The worst thing that could happen would be overtime. We decided to start overtime a little early.

“I wanted to get to the middle of the box, and when I did, I hit the ball real nice. I felt comfortable playing today. It’s much better to be playing than watching.”

Former Socker star George Fernandez, who signed as a free agent with Cleveland during the off-season, scored on a 40-foot shot with 1:13 to play as a sixth attacker to tie the score, 6-6.

Fernandez was confident about his team’s chances after Quinn’s goal, but was upset with the Crunch’s mental play.

“I felt we could pull it out (in overtime),” Fernandez said. “But we weren’t ready for them (the Sockers) to come back at us. Anybody in their right mind is going to be prepared for the other team to be coming back at you, but we weren’t.”

After falling behind, 2-0, early in the first quarter, San Diego scored 16 seconds into the second when Jacques Ladouceur hit from the left side of the penalty box to make it 2-1.

Cleveland’s Mike Sweeney then scored off an errant pass that put the Crunch ahead, 3-1, at the 1:45 mark of the second quarter. The pass was intended for teammate Hector Marinaro but it was blocked back at him by Sockers goalie Victor Nogueira.

The teams then exchanged goals, as San Diego’s Paul Wright, a former Crunch player, and Cleveland’s Zoran Karic, who the hosts received for Wright, each scored making it 4-2.

A goal by Wes Wade with five seconds remaining before the intermission pulled the Sockers within a goal at 4-3.

“We made some big mistakes in the early going and weren’t playing well in the first half, but I thought it was justice the way we got the win,” Newman said.

Cleveland player-coach Kai Haaskivi, who returned to the Crunch bench after undergoing knee surgery last week, wasn’t happy with his team’s performance.

“The way we played today, I think we were under the impression that all we had to do to win was show up,” Haaskivi said. “In any sport, you (try to) not give up any points early or late in a period. We went out there today, scored two first-quarter goals and then we went into a deep sleep mentally.”

The teams exchanged third-quarter goals.