Sockers Prevail in OT : MSL: Dougherty’s goal ties it; Castro’s wins it.
On a night when Socker midfielder Brian Quinn, a native of Belfast, Northern Ireland, received his certificate of U.S. citizenship, the Sockers used a little luck of the Irish to slide by the St. Louis Storm in Game 2 of the MSL Western Division finals.
The Sockers won, 5-4, on Rod Castro’s goal in overtime in front of 8,534 at the Sports Arena and go up 2-0 in the seven-game series. Game 3 is at 4:05 p.m. today at the Arena in St. Louis.
With three minutes remaining in regulation, the Sockers trailed, 4-3, and had pulled their goalkeeper for a sixth attacker.
They tied it because of a shove in the back given to Waad Hirmez by St. Louis’ David Eise. The push allowed a long pass from Branko Segota in midfield got by both players, hit off the end boards and bounced to Paul Dougherty. From 10 feet in front of the net, Dougherty did not miss.
The Sockers’ good fortune continued in overtime. Nearly four minutes in, Kevin Crow was on the bench preparing for another shift when he saw a defensive lapse on St. Louis’ part.
But instead of immediately stepping onto the carpet, Crow raced from one end of the bench to the other where he was able to come onto the field closer to the Sockers’ attacking third.
Teammate Paul Wright saw what was going on and as Crow came on, Wright immediately pushed the ball up to him. Crow then was able to dribble unmarked accross the red line.
As St. Louis players scurried to catch up to Crow, he centered a pass to Castro, who had an open net in front of him.
It was over.
“If there’s any better entertainment in this town,” Sockers Coach Ron Newman said, “I’d like to see it . . .
“That last goal was amazing. (Exploiting the defense with quick bench changes) is something we have done well on in the past, but it slipped away from our game.”
Said Crow: “We needed something like that to win this one. We need to bring (offensive bench changes) back into our game.”
And Castro: “Paul gave a great pass to Kevin, and Kevin made it very easy for me to score. I just had to tap it in. Slobo (Ilijevski) was guarding against Kevin at the near post, all I had to do was get it inside the far post.”
Despite the victory, the Sockers couldn’t stop talking about the work of Ilijevski, 42, who because the Storm’s regular goalkeeper after starter Zoltan Toth went down with three broken ribs in Game 1.
“Slobo played out of his mind,” Newman said.
Indeed, Ilijevski made 10 saves in the first quarter alone and finished with 28. Socker goalie Victor Nogueira, on the other hand, saved nine shots all night.
Like they did Thursday in Game 1, the Storm took the first lead. It came from the guy the Sockers fear most, Preki.
Barely over two minutes in, Preki, some 30 feet from the net, first-timed a free kick from Fernando Clavijo and tucked it behind Nogueira.
But it didn’t last. With about a minute remaining in the quarter, the Sockers tied it when Ben Collins, running through the penalty area, reached back with his left foot to gather a pass from Waad Hirmez and flicked it just inside the right post.
It was Collins’ third goal in five quarters of postseason play. That equals the three goals he had scored in his previous 19 playoff games.
But in a game that was tied four times, the Sockers would need more.
Some three minutes into the second quarter Thompson Usiyan gathered a long pass pass from Daryl Doran, dribbled into the Storm’s attacking third and fired a shot from along the near boards that eluded both Crow, who was a half-step behind Usiyan, and Nogueira.
That made it 2-1 and gave the Sockers another opportunity to forge a tie.
They did just that midway through the quarter. Paul Wright was the beneficiary of a ball teammate Alex Golovnia stole from Preki. When Golovnia kicked it away from Preki, the ball went to Wright, who shot and made good from the top of the arc.
The Sockers’ first lead of the game came with 39 seconds remaining in the half. Segota dribbled the ball down the right boards and drew the St. Louis defense to him before passing back to the red line, where Waad Hirmez hit a left-footer that bent around three players and by Ilijevski, who was screened on the play.
The slim lead stood until 22 seconds elapsed in the final quarter. That’s when Godfrey Ingram, flying down the middle of the field, got by Crow and beat Nogueira. Ingram had taken a pass from Dan Donigan, who stole the ball from Socker Jim Gabarra in midfield.
Three minutes later, St. Louis retook the lead on Usiyan’s second goal. Usiyan had only Nogueira to beat after a shot from Preki hit the crossbar and landed at his feet.
That lead stood until Dougherty’s hustle put him in the right place at the right time.
Socker Notes
Today’s game will be broadcast on XTRA (690 AM). . . . The Sockers will take a 7 a.m. flight out of San Diego, and, after a pit stop in Dallas, will land in St. Louis at 2:30 p.m., CDT. That’s five hours before tonight’s kickoff at The Arena. The Storm, on the other hand, bused to Los Angeles after Saturday night’s game and took a red-eye out of LAX. They were scheduled to land in St. Louis this morning at 6. “We were going to leave in the morning, but we changed our plans,” explained Storm Coach Don Popovic. “But when you’re on the road, after a game you don’t get to bed until 1 or 2 in the morning anyway. If you get up for a morning flight, then you’re only getting a few hours sleep. This way, we’ll have all day (today) to rest for the game.” . . . The Storm on Saturday signed veteran goalkeeper A.J. Lachowecki to a 15-day contract to replace Zoltan Toth, who suffered three broken ribs in Thursday’s opener. Lachowecki suited up for Game 2, but did not play as the Storm stayed with Slobo Ilijevski, who played 19 games during the regular season. Popovic said he will start Ilijevski again tonight and that Lachowecki might get a start Thursday in Game 4. Lachowecki played in the National Professional Soccer League this season and led all goalies with a 5.19 goals-against average.