Lazers Beat Sockers in Double Overtime
On a night when goals were being given away like cheap door prizes at a company picnic, and no lead was safe, 23-year-old Felipe Hernandez received his baptism as a goalkeeper in the Major Indoor Soccer League.
Unfortunately, for much of the night, his Sockers teammates weren’t around to help.
Michael Collins finally put an end to the highest-scoring game of the season Thursday when he scored at 1:36 of the second overtime to give the Los Angeles Lazers a 10-9 victory over the Sockers at the Forum.
As was the case for most of the night, the Sockers’ defense was late getting to the ball, and Collins squeezed into the penalty box to put home the game-winner.
The defense rested on other occasions, too. And offensive stars such as the Lazers’ Hector Marinaro (three goals, four assists) and the Sockers’ Branko Segota (one goal, four assists) and Waad Hirmez (three goals in his return for the Sockers) frolicked.
After the game, Sockers’ Coach Ron Newman and Lazers’ defender Fernando Clavijo engaged in a shoving match in front of the Sockers bench. Newman claimed afterward that Clavijo punched him while the two engaged in a clinch. Clavijo, a former Socker, said he did not hit Newman but pushed the coach away after Newman had spit in his face. The two players were separated by players from both sides.
Hernandez, who had waited a long time to make his MISL debut, will remember it even longer, though it’s likely none of the defenders who played in front of him will want to.
Another who will try to forget is Lazers rookie goalkeeper Kris Peat, who blew two three-goal leads and a two-goal lead in the final 2 minutes of regulation.
The Sockers (17-13) seemed doomed in the final moments, but Kevin Crow, wearing a sixth-attacker jersey, took a pass from Segota and blasted a shot in from the right boards to tie the game with 2 seconds remaining.
Before that, it was a night of barrages. Clavijo scored on the Lazers’ first shot and started a 3-0 run in the first quarter.
The Sockers came back to lead, 4-3, at halftime, but then the Lazers scored four consecutive goals to take a 7-4 lead.
The Sockers rallied again, tying the game, 7-7, when Hirmez--traded this week to the Sockers from the Lazers--sandwiched a pair of goals around one by Rene Ortiz.
But with 4:23 left, Marinaro scored his third goal to put the Lazers back in front, 8-7. When Doug Neely scored an empty-net goal and made it 9-7 with 2:07 left, a Lazer victory seemed secured.
But Hirmez completed a hat trick, scoring with 1:33 left, and then Crow beat the buzzer with his drive to tie it.
After Clavijo scored on the Lazers’ first shot, Marinaro scored on their second, driving a 25-footer just under the crossbar to make it 2-0 3 minutes into the game.
Newman had said before the game that he hoped Hernandez would get a chance to make a couple of saves or at least handle the ball early in the first quarter in order to get his feet wet.
That scenario wiped out, the rookie goalkeeper had to try and find another way to get settled. He did that with a couple of nice saves over the next few minutes.
But then Crow sent a back pass toward Hernandez, and the rookie goalkeeper misplayed it, allowing Marinaro to score again and make it 3-0.
Crow’s pass could have been one-touched out of danger by Hernandez, who instead chose to wait for the ball to bounce off the backboard. While he waited, Marinaro snuck in and kicked the ball into an empty net.
That left Hernandez with that empty feeling. But he was able to revive himself in the second quarter while the Sockers scored four unanswered goals to take to take a 4-3 halftime lead.
Segota started the uprising by digging a loose ball out of the corner and passing across to Cacho who was all alone in front.
Cacho tapped the ball in for his ninth goal and 14th point of the season, both career highs.
The Sockers made it 3-2 with just over 5 minutes remaining when Chris Chueden took a pass from Gus Mokalis on a three-on-two break and beat Kris Peat with a shot into the upper-right corner of the goal.
Segota assisted on a goal by Steve Zungul that tied the game, then took it upon himself to put the Sockers in front.
Dribbling the ball just outside the red line, Segota let loose a surprise 45-footer that weaved through traffic, beat a diving Peat, and made the score, 4-3.
Socker Notes
Victor Nogueira didn’t accompany the Sockers to Los Angeles Thursday night, staying in San Diego to be with his wife, Pamela, who gave birth to a six-pound three-ounce baby girl (Casey Nicole) at 5 a.m. Thursday. It was the couple’s second child. Nogueira, who had started nine consecutive games, is expected to be in goal tonight when the Sockers play host to the Dallas Sidekicks at 7:35. . . . Zoran Karic, who leads the Sockers with 24 goals, missed Thursday night’s game against the Lazers because of a bruised right foot. Karic missed three games earlier this month because of the injury is expected to be back tonight.
