Playoffs in Jeopardy for Splash : Indoor soccer: Anaheim can’t solve San Jose in 12-9 loss as battle for berths gets tighter.

ANAHEIM —  It doesn’t get much lower than this for a team that has taken a playoff berth for granted.

The Splash, who rolled into last year’s playoffs with 20 victories and the second-best record in the Continental Indoor Soccer League, has never doubted it will make the playoffs this season.

When it didn’t play up to its expectations at the beginning of the season, players and Coach George Fernandez said it wasn’t a problem--it was still early.

Well, it’s not early now. There are eight more games to determine the eight playoff teams. And if those playoffs began today, the Splash would not be in them.

With its 12-9 loss to San Jose in front of an announced crowd of 6,811 Sunday at The Pond, the Splash dropped to 10-10--the CISL’s 10th-best record.

Or, put another way, the sixth-worst.

The Splash is three games into a six-game home stand. With a chance to make a run at the Southern Division title, the team has instead taken a step back, winning only one of its first three games. It has won only four of 10 at The Pond; it plays Arizona Thursday and Southern Division-leader San Diego Saturday.

The following week, the Splash begins a four-game trip before returning for one home game, against Dallas, to close out the regular season.

But after Sunday’s loss, there was relief in the locker room that the season, no longer young, is not over.

“We just have to sit down collectively and examine what our roles are,” co-captain Doug Neely said. “It’s got to come from within. I have to ask myself, ‘What do I have to do to help this team win?’ ”

Better team defense would have helped against San Jose.

The Splash wasted nine goals--including four by Sean Bowers--and a second-half comeback in which the Splash tied the score, 9-9, after trailing, 8-5. The Splash trailed, 9-7, early in the fourth quarter.

“Our defense was like a colander for spaghetti,” Fernandez said. “You pour the water in and it goes through--that’s what our defense was.

“You score nine goals, you should win--that’s obvious. I would take nine goals any day.”

But four times when the Splash scored, San Jose answered within a minute:

* After Bowers tied it at 2-2 at 9 minutes 1 second of the second quarter, Thompson Usiyan put the Grizzlies up, 3-2, eight seconds later.

* After Bowers cut San Jose’s lead to 6-5 at 5:36 of the third quarter, Preki scored his third goal of the night at 5:54; it was his league-leading ninth hat trick.

* After Denis Hamlett’s goal cut the deficit to two goals only 20 seconds into the fourth, Preki scored his fourth goal 59 seconds later.

* After Francisco Jaime tied the score, 9-9, at 7:05 of the fourth, Richard Haase scored off a free kick from Preki at 7:44.

“It’s the same old story--we work so hard for our goals and let in the [easiest] goals I’ve ever seen,” Fernandez said. “Things definitely are not going our way. . . . Still, we’re in the middle of things.”

Splash goalkeeper Jorge Valenzuela had 18 saves, but was no match for Preki one on one.

“We worked hard but didn’t work intelligently,” Valenzuela said. “We had a lot of ideas offensively, but we sacrificed our safety on defense. A couple of times, Preki’s standing there wide open and I was yelling at guys to come back, but they were so intent on scoring goals. . . .

“There’s nothing wrong with [Bowers] scoring four goals, but any time the fullback makes a run up, someone has to rotate back. Everybody wants to score so bad, everybody wants to win so bad, but they’re not doing the simple things to keep them from scoring. It had a snowball effect.”

Fernandez still had a positive spin on the Splash’s position--which is a game out of a wild-card berth and 1 1/2 games out of second place.

“We’re still in the middle of things. . . . We still have a chance,” he said. “We’re 10-10. A lot of teams are right around there. We still have the opportunity, and that’s all you can ask for the way we’ve been struggling.”