Usiyan Helps Sockers Get Out of the Blocks : Soccer: Dallas defenders can’t stop defending MSL champions in Game 1. Usiyan scores three in 7-3 victory.

SAN DIEGO — The Dallas Sidekicks came to town for Game 1 of the MSL championship series Thursday night. They brought impressive credentials, having placed second during the regular season and having beaten up high-scoring Cleveland in the semifinals.

But they also came needing a clue, and here it is:

Put one of those guys with all the blocked shots at the back post and tell him to stay in position.

Maybe that way the Sidekicks could have kept Thompson Usiyan from scoring a hat trick, which he did Thursday to lead the Sockers to a 7-3 victory in front of another small playoff crowd, 5,269.

And maybe that way they could have kept the Sockers from sneaking in the back door, which they did for four of their goals.

That the Sockers were able to find the other side of the net so open was as much an exploitation of Hank Henry, Dallas’ inexperienced goalie, as it was a sign that Dallas’ defenders--three of whom finished among the league’s top-10 shot blockers--performed sub-par.

Sockers’ players and coaches--and Dallas Coach Gordon Jago, for that matter--refused blame on Henry.

“We worked hard,” said Sockers’ Coach Ron Newman. “We fired a lot of shots at Henry tonight, and he made some great saves, but he couldn’t hold on to all the shots we took.”

He rarely held on to those off the foot of Usiyan, whose prettiest goal of the night came as the clock ticked to 00:00 to end the second quarter.

Usiyan took a pass from Jacques Ladouceur, shielded the ball from a defender, and scissor-kicked it past Henry.

“Just like in the NBA,” Usiyan said. “Right at the buzzer.”

The Sockers finished with 29 shots to Dallas’ 18, and the Sidekicks, who averaged 15 blocks a game in the semifinals, came through with only eight Thursday.

“They played far, far better than we did,” Jago said of the Sockers. “I didn’t even think we were in the game.”

In 29 games at the Sports Arena, Dallas has won only three.

“I don’t know what it is about this city,” Jago said. “Very seldom do we play at the level we produce elsewhere. We just don’t produce here.”

The Sockers made it look easy as they took advantage of the Sidekicks’ poor play.

The first sign that things would go the Sockers’ way came 35 seconds after the opening whistle as Henry pounced on a shot from Tim Wittman, grabbed it, but then watched as it wriggled through his grasp and across the goal line.

It was the first goal of the playoffs for Wittman, who scored 25 during the regular season.

His was one of four goals the Sockers scored that might not have been if a defender were stationed at the back post:

- After David Doyle tied it two minutes later, John Kerr found the rebound of an Alex Golovnia shot at the back post and headed it into an unguarded net. Henry was still on the ground having kick-saved Golovnia’s shot.

- Only 47 seconds into the second quarter, and with the Sockers leading, 3-1, Thompson Usiyan rocketed a shot from the red line that edged inside the right post. Usiyan had just taken a cross-carpet pass from Paul Wright.

- Ahead 4-2 four minutes into the third quarter, Wittman found teammate Paul Dougherty all alone at the back door and pushed the ball his way. The pass was off target, but not enough so Dougherty couldn’t get to it. Although the pass gave Henry time to react, Dougherty was able to put his shot between the stunned goalie’s legs and into the net.

Despite that goal, and despite a lack of anticipation, which usually comes with experience, Henry received an endorsement from Jago after the game.

Jago was asked if he would change goalies Saturday.

“No,” he said. “No, there’s not going to be a goalie change. Don’t blame it on the poor kid. He did a marvelous job stopping the shots (13) he did.”

Socker Notes

Defender Ben Collins, who missed the semifinals and the last seven games of the regular season after undergoing surgery on his left knee, made his way back into the Sockers’ lineup for Game 1. He played only one shift late in the first half, and received a loud round of applause the first time he touched the ball. Collins started taking regular shifts with five minutes gone in the final quarter. . . . When defender Kevin Crow set up Wes Wade’s goal 10 minutes into the third quarter, he tied Steve Zungul as the club’s fifth all-time playoff assist leader with 31. . . . Thompson Usiyan, who scored three times in Game 1, has at least two points in five of the Sockers’ six playoff games. He also extended his scoring streak to 18 games (regular season and playoffs).