Goossens Gets Comets Past Sockers : Soccer: All-Star scores five goals against back-up goalie Savva Biller in Kansas City’s 9-5 victory.
Maybe Kansas City forward Jan Goossens will put off surgery for a while.
Nothing appeared wrong with Goossens’ right knee on Friday night as the Comets’ All-Star scored five goals and had an assist in Kansas City’s 9-5 victory over the Sockers in front of 7,028 at Kemper Arena.
“I didn’t have any pain,” said Goossens, who earlier in the week was diagnosed with torn cartilage and was contemplating having arthroscopic surgery during the upcoming All-Star break with the hope of returning for the playoffs.
“I could turn, my leg felt strong. It looks like I’ll have the surgery in June . . . after the championship.”
Indeed, Friday’s result had an effect on the MSL standings. The loss snapped the Sockers’ four-game winning streak and dropped San Diego (20-13) into second place, a half-game behind St. Louis in the MSL’s Western Division. The Comets (19-14) increased their lead in the Eastern Division to 2 1/2 games over Baltimore, which lost 6-5 Friday at St. Louis.
Most of the damage by Goossens came on low shots against a shell-shocked Sockers back-up goalkeeper, Savva Biller, who was making only his second start of the season in place of a weary Victor Nogueria.
In the teams’ last meeting, a 4-1 Sockers victory on Jan. 6 at the Sports Arena, Goossens peppered a season-most 12 shots at Nogueira, only to come away with just one assist.
“I was quite happy Victor was not playing,” Goossens said.
Against Biller, Goossens’ five goals came on nine shots.
“One of the problems was Savva Biller has never seen Goossens play,” Sockers Coach Ron Newman said. “It doesn’t help you when a kid doesn’t know what he’s going to do next. Goossens turns a lot, he uses the back post all the time. The goalkeeper has to lean more toward that post.
“He saved a couple, and I’m not taking away from what Goose has done, he had a great game. But we’ve got to bring Savva along slowly. We know we’re going to be up against it when he plays, but I don’t think he got a lot of help from his defenders.”
Biller, who defeated Baltimore 7-5 on Jan. 26 in his only other outing, made 12 saves on Friday and chalked the game up as a learning experience.
“I learned a lot about myself,” Biller said. “I underestimated the situation. I should have been more alert on his shot.
“Not taking away anything from Goossens, he’s a good player, but I made some mistakes. There are a lot of things I did today, I’m not going to do the next time, so that way it will work for the best.”
Biller’s first big mistake came with the score tied 1-1 in the first quarter when he showed his inexperience by illegally playing a ball with his hands that was kicked into his zone by teammate Kevin Crow.
On the ensuing free kick from the top of the penalty arc, Goossens ripped a shot through the Sockers’ blocking wall for a 2-1 lead 5:14 into the game.
“He left one corner open,” Goossens said of Biller.
Sockers Notes
The Sockers had a bit of a scare on their flight from San Diego on Friday morning. The USAir flight was aborted on takeoff because of an engine malfunction, and after about an hour delay, the team was put on a different flight and arrived in Kansas City about mid-afternoon. . . . Forward Wes Wade (hyper-extended knee) and midfielder Ben Collins (groin) did not make the trip. Forward Keder and defender Glenn Carbonara took their place in the lineup. . . . The Sockers will play at Wichita on Sunday afternoon before taking time out for the MSL all-star break. The Sockers have lost 10 of their last 14 to the Wings but are coming off a 10-3 victory over Wichita on Feb. 1 at the Sports Arena.
