As Starter, Soto Helps Zodiac Finish 86ers
Forward Eddie Soto celebrated his return to the starting lineup and his selection to the all-star team with a goal and an assist to lead the Zodiac past the Vancouver 86ers, 2-1, at UC Irvine Wednesday night.
The victory, in front of an announced crowd of 461, keeps the Zodiac (8-5) in first place in the Western Conference of the A-League. In two previous games, Vancouver (6-5) won in a shootout.
Soto broke a 1-1 tie in the 54th minute when he took a through ball just past midfield, dribbled to just outside the box and flicked the ball past Vancouver goalkeeper Mike Franks.
In the 10th minute, Soto left-footed a perfect cross to Mark Foster, who easily beat Franks on the left side to give the Zodiac a 1-0 lead.
Soto lost his starting job when he left the team for a game to play beach soccer in Malaysia.
He sat out one game and played only a half of another. But Coach Mike Gartlan decided to give Soto a start against Vancouver.
“I was a little disappointed,” Soto said. “It’s nice to come back and get my starting job back. It was a little frustrating. I got my opportunity and I had to back it up and show I belong.”
Soto, who leads the team in scoring with 15 points, was the only Zodiac player selected for the Western Conference all-star team. If Gartlan was trying to send Soto a message, Soto said he received it.
“He got his point across,” Soto said. “They liked what they saw in the other guys when I was gone, so I had to prove something tonight.”
Said Gartlan: “He responded well to getting a start. He got a nice goal when we needed it.”
The Zodiac had numerous opportunities to put the game away in the second half, but couldn’t capitalize. Forward Steve Patterson had the easiest scoring chance, but he pulled a wide-open shot left of goal from eight yards out.
“We score one goal and it seems like we stop playing,” Soto said. “We’ve got to finish better. We have to make better decisions when we’re in the box. I don’t know if guys are trying to do too much or what.”
Vancouver came close to tying the score in the 73rd minute on a point-blank shot by Jason Jordan that was smothered by goalkeeper Mike Littman, who had six saves. Gartlan said his team was fortunate to hold off Vancouver’s aggressive second-half attack.
