Splash Continues to Close on Sockers With Victory

Raffaele Ruotolo, who won three indoor championships while with the San Diego Sockers, said what is becoming apparent to the rest of the Continental Indoor Soccer League.

“We still have a game to go,” the Splash midfielder said, “but if we fight the way we have been the last seven games, I don’t see why we can’t win it [all].”

Ruotolo was speaking from the hindsight of having just beaten San Diego, 5-4, for the third time this season as the Splash heads toward the playoffs as one of the league’s hottest teams.

The Splash won for the sixth time in seven games. Once four games back with eight to play, the Splash (16-11) is only a half-game behind the Sockers (17-11). But if the Splash beats Dallas (17-9) at The Pond of Anaheim on Sunday, the team will win the Southern Division title, as well as home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

“As a group, as a team, it’s frightening,” Splash Coach George Fernandez said. “We’ve been unbelievable. I don’t care what team we would play, these guys ain’t afraid of anybody.”

The Splash got three goals from Jose Vasquez--the second hat trick from the first-year indoor player--and held off a late Socker rally in the fourth quarter.

The Splash’s defense has been superb for the past seven games, and it continued Thursday with Ruben Fernandez getting 15 saves, and Denis Hamlett and Sean Bowers getting five blocks apiece, and Doug Neely getting four.

Before winning six of its last seven, the Splash had not won even four out of five games.

Twice the Splash scored within one minute of the Sockers--in contrast to the last game before this streak, in which the Splash allowed four such goals in a 12-9 loss to San Jose, beginning with Hamlett’s shot from the red line at 10 minutes 31 seconds into the first quarter.

Splash Notes

Splash Coach George Fernandez was named to the Sockers’ 15-year all-time team as a second-team defender. Fernandez helped the Sockers win three indoor championships beginning in 1987.