Sockers Increase Margin : Soccer: Paul Wright shoots four times, but scores twice in a 4-3 victory over Wichita.

Not only is it becoming cliche to mention Paul Wright’s speed as his main attribute, but it also is becoming inaccurate.

It seems the guy can shoot, too.

Wright scored two goals Tuesday night to help lift the Sockers past the Wings, 4-3, in front of 8,701 at the Kansas Coliseum. The Sockers (15-6) thus increased their lead over the second-place Wings (13-10) to three games.

Wright now has 30 goals in 20 games and should easily eclipse his career best of 38, which he achieved last season in 51 games.

The victory was the seventh in a row for the Sockers (15-6), and Wright has provided the game-winner in the past four. Wright has eight game-winning goals, best in the Major Soccer League.

While others might be slow in recognizing Wright’s skills, Wright himself boasts about them.

“Every time I shoot, there’s a good chance of it going in,” he said recently.

Tuesday, the chances were 50-50--he aimed four shots.

“I always thought Paul could be a star in this league,” Coach Ron Newman said. “He’s an electrifying player. Other teams are frightened to death of him. I tell him to stay at the red line (on defense), because if he’s up there, the other team will be afraid to lose the ball.”

Wright was at the red line midway through the second quarter when Wichita coughed up the ball and Socker Tim Wittman collected it along the end boards.

After taking Wittman’s pass, Wright dribbled through the midfield, all the while keeping two steps ahead of defender Kim Roentved.

After passing the Wings’ red line, Wright dished off to Thompson Usiyan on the left wing. Usiyan did all he could to turn and meet the ball and barely got his left foot on it to loop it back to Wright in the middle of the penalty area.

It was a high pass, which gave Wright a choice of waiting and chesting it to the ground and then shooting or leaping up and heading the ball toward the goal.

Wright chose the latter route and gave the Sockers a 1-0 lead.

“Paul just sprung into the air,” Newman said.

Added Wright, “I got enough hang time to put it in the goal.”

Wright’s second goal required much less skill. It came with less than a minute remaining and the Sockers clinging to a 3-2 lead.

Wichita had pulled goalie Kris Peat in favor of a sixth-attacker. After Jacques Ladouceur got to a loose ball in the midfield and dumped it into the Sockers’ attacking zone, all Wright had to do was beat Roentved in a foot race. He made up 10 feet on Roentved and got to the ball first before tucking it into the net.

Terry Woodberry and Wes Wade scored the Sockers’ other goals, and Wright played a part in Woodberry’s.

It came on a free kick from the top of the arc directly in front of the goal. Wright and Woodberry lined up the same way they did for a free kick in overtime of Sunday’s 7-6 victory over the St. Louis Storm.

Against St. Louis, the left-footed Woodberry took a dummy run, upsetting the defensive wall, and Wright, who has a strong right-foot, followed through with a shot that sliced just inside the left post.

This time, though, Wright took the dummy run and Woodberry followed with a shot that made its way inside the left post.

“That’s the alternative we have with those two big shots,” Newman said. “Terry hits them high with his left and Paul hits them low with his right.”

The sneaky part is how to communicate in front of the guys you’re trying to manipulate. That’s where goalie Victor Nogueira comes in.

“Victor gets a better view, so they look back at him,” Newman said. “And he indicates which way he thinks they can score, or he tells them if it’s not going to go in, in which case they pass it to someone else.”

The Wings started the game without Chico Borja, their No. 2 scorer (18 goals and 27 assists), who injured a knee Sunday in Dallas. Further, the Wings had to play the second half without their leading scorer, Dale Ervine (34 goals, 28 assists), who injured his knee during the first half.

“Without Ervine and Borja, it seemed that as long as we kept the lead, they didn’t have enough comeback power,” Newman said.