Sockers Win Third Game In a Row : Soccer: Wade has hat trick as Cleveland falls, 8-3.

Socker Coach Ron Newman can’t believe it.

He was the last Major Soccer League coach to complete his roster this season--doing so after the Sockers lost their season-opener in Dallas--and now his team has won three games in a row.

The latest came in the form of an 8-3 victory over the Cleveland Crunch in front of 8,337 at the Richfield Coliseum Friday night.

“Everyone keeps saying they played their worst game of the year against us,” Newman said. “But now it’s been three games in a row where we’ve seen our opponents at their worst, so maybe it’s not just them. Maybe we’re really playing this well.

“But I keep thinking somebody is going to come along and burst our bubble.”

Once again the decisive factor was team speed. The Sockers have it, and their opponents keep chasing it.

“And we keep using it at the right time,” Newman said. “But we’re also keeping hold of the ball as well.”

So the Sockers (3-2) are now one game behind first-place teams Dallas (4-1), which lost for the first time this season, 9-5, to St. Louis, and Wichita, which beat Tacoma, 7-6, in overtime.

Six Sockers had at least two points in the victory, and all except for rookie John Kerr, who had a goal and an assist, are the team’s speed players:

Wes Wade, whose dribbling skills have improved markedly since last season, had three goals and an assist.

“Wes Wade gets a hat trick,” Newman said in mock bewilderment. “And he’s our defensive runner.”

But Wade didn’t do it alone. Paul Wright and Jacques Ladouceur each had two assists, and Tim Wittman and Terry Woodberry kicked in two goals.

But the Sockers fell behind early when Woodberry, trying to head away a length-of-the-field through pass, instead deflected it over goalie Victor Nogueira and into the goal.

“That was just unlucky,” Newman said. “We don’t take any notice of that type of thing. We were playing so well at that stage--we were doing most of the penetrating and had most of the ball possession. We weren’t worried.”

Sure enough, the Sockers came back with four unanswered goals in the right net to steal the game’s momentum for good.

Cleveland tried to get back into it by using its quick counter-attack offense, but the Sockers managed to get a defender back every time the Crunch thought they had a breakaway.

As a result, Cleveland aimed only 19 shots to the Sockers’ 28.

Socker Notes

Friday’s game marked Coach Ron Newman’s 300th regular season indoor victory. . . . The Sockers travel to Baltimore today for a game with the Blast (4:25 p.m., live KFMB 760), a team in turmoil. Forward Waad Hirmez, who left the Sockers during the summer when he felt insulted by the club’s contract offer, has worn out his welcome in Baltimore. He was released by that club Friday. He and Coach Kenny Cooper traded insults in Baltimore papers during the week. When Cooper was instructed by owner Ed Hale, the MSL’s George Steinbrenner, to find a scapegoat for the Blast’s 1-4 start, Hirmez was released. This mark’s the second time in his career Hirmez has left the Sockers only to be unable to catch on with a new team. He started the 1988-89 season with the Los Angeles Lazers, fizzled badly, then regained form after being traded back to the Sockers. With team chemistry at an all-time high, Newman said he has no interest in re-signing Hirmez.