Arrows Pierce Steamers' Title Hopes
by Arnold Irish St. Louis Post-Dispatch
A shot that didn't go in for the Steamers and one that did go in for New York with 30 seconds left in the game were all that separated the two finalists Sunday afternoon at the Checkerdome. The incomparable Steve Zungul's fourth goal of the day and 15th in five playoff games gave the Arrows their third straight Major Indoor Soccer League championship.
A crowd of 17,206, many of who had witnessed the Steamers' 8-7 shootout victory over Wichita in the same building, watched a scrappy St. Louis team nearly overcome the first-quarter loss by injury of MISL rookie of the year Don Ebert, the club's scoring leader, and linemate Yilmaz Orhan, also a potent offensive force.
Emilio Romero nearly scored a go-ahead goal for the Steamers with a little more than four minutes remaining when he led a breakaway. His sizzler beat Shep Messing, striking the inside of the post to the right of the Arrow's diving goalkeeper - the kind of shot that usually glances off the wood and into the net - but the ball took a crazy bounce out.
"All of us will see that shot in our sleep for a long, long time," Steamers Coach Pat McBride said.
McBride, the Steamers and their fans won't soon forget Zungul's game-winner either.
"The Lord of All Indoors," as Zungul is known in tribute to his seemingly endless list of MISL records, titles and awards, found himself open with little more than a half-minute to go when Dave D'Errico knocked the ball away from Ty Keough and caught both Steamers defenders too far upfield. Zungul took a pass out of a crowd from Luis Alberto and, despite a valiant effort by goalkeeper Slobo Ilijevski, broke both the tie and the Steamers' hearts with one off-balance swing of his magical left leg.
"They knew if they stopped me, they'd win the game," said Zungul, never one to indulge in false humility. "I was so tired, I was just waiting for the game to end. They play very hard in St. Louis. Some day I'm gonna die on this field. I didn't say it before, but I can say it now. We are the best. We showed them."
Almost lost in the aura of Zungul's last-minute heroics was a sterling performance by the Steamers' little "motor man," speedy Tony Glavin, who scored three goals.
Zungul was voted the game's No. 1 star by the Professional Soccer Reporters Association, whose members picked Glavin No. 2 and Slobo No. 3.
The play Zungul finished (and that finished the Steamers) began with "close to a foul" against New York, Slobo said.
"Everybody looks at the referee as if to say, 'Where's the foul?' but Zungul saw the empty space and got open to my right side," Slobo said.
"At first I didn't see him over there, but the other guy (ALberto) gave him a good pass and my only chance was to block the shot before he took it. I nearly got there in time, but he made a move left, then went right and beat me. I triet to grab him as he went by and got my hand on his shirt. He was going down as he shot. It was a lucky goal."
To Zungul, the goal was anything but lucky. "I knew exactly what I wanted to do with the ball," said Zungul. "I knew I could draw the goalie out, and all I would have to do is kick it. He (Slobo) was just a second late in coming out, and that was enough.
Not even Zungul pretended his final goal was a work of art. "It was sloppy," he admitted as his mind's eye studied a re-run. Then he broke into a narcissistic grin. "But I love it."
Romero, whose so-near-but-so-far experience left him crestfallen, couldn't believe his late shot hadn't caromed into the cage.
"I pushed the ball past one man to get clear, but I was aware that D'Errico fell to my left," Romero said of his late miss. "I had a breakaway, but I took my time. I looked up and saw Messing by the near post, so I knew I wanted to go for the far side to his right. So I teed up and cracked it. The ball hit the inside of the post. They usually go in when they hit there, so I jumped up in the air to celebrate what I thought was the goal that would put us ahead. But the ball bounced out."
Romero, whom Messing had robbed with a good stop in the first half, shook his head in frustration. "We beat them," the little forward said. "I'm sure they know it."
The game was street-fight rough from the beginning. Only 24 seconds had elapsed when stocky Arrows defender Val Tuksa took Orhan down with such authority that the latter injured his left knee and was helped off the field.
Exactly one minute later, defending his turf, Slobo was kicked in the face by Branko Segota, and the game was delayed for 10 minutes while the keeper was tended to by the team's physician and two trainers. Backup netminder Manny Schwartz slipped on his gloves and ran back and forth behind the Steamers' bench, but, finally, a groggy Slobo was assisted to his feet. He was OK, he insisted, and backed shakily into position.
At 3:11, on only his second shift, Orhan went down again and was finished for the day. "The first time, Tuska's knee caught me," said Orhan, the Steamers' No. 3 scorer during the regular season. "The second time, I jumped up to get the ball and twisted the same knee as I landed. It was so weak I couldn't go anymore."
After goals by Zungul and Segota, assisted by (who else?) Zungul, gave New York a 2-0 lead, Ebert won a ball from Nick Megaloudis in front of the Steamers' bench with 3:30 to go in the first quarter. There was contact, and, his face a study in pain, Ebert hurdled the boards, stretched out on his back and writhed behind the bench as trainers removed the shoe and stocking from his right foot. Ebert, finished for the day, was carried to an ambulance and whisked off to the hospital for repairs to what was diagnosed as a dislocated big toe.
Glavin served notice 32 seconds into the second quarter that the Steamers had only begun to fight when he handcuffed Messing from a rocket from 50 feet.
Zungul routinely made New York's lead 3-1, but defender Sammy Bick reduced it 25 seconds later when he stole the ball inside New York's penalty area and beat Messing.
With 7:46 left in the half, Tony Bellinger's rebound found its way to Glavin, who tied the score at 3-3 by heading the ball in.
Glavin gave the Steamers their first lead, 4-3, when he scored 4:25 before halftime. Taking an outlet pass from Slobo, Tony permitted Villa to clear out an area by crossing before he fired a bullet to a diving Messing's left.
Fourteen seconds before intermission, Megaloudis stretched Steve Pecher out with a hit that, although it took awhile for Pecher to get back up, did not draw the game's first penalty from referr Gino D'Ippolitto.
The piece d' resistance of Zungul's four goals knotted the score at 4:07 into the third quarter when Slobo and two teammates appeared to have the Arrow's superstar pinned against the boards.
Zungul hopped over the fallen keeper. The ball followed Zungul like an obedient puppy, and affectionately nudged it into the deserted cage.
After Megaloudis foiled a Steamers breakaway by tripping Bellinger (a foul was called, but no penalty), D"Ippolitto assessed the game's four penalties within a 4:54 span.
Tuska went off for pushing Pecher at 9:10 of the third period, and Emilio John (whose fourth-round penalty kick Friday had given the Steamers' their victory over Wichita) provided McBride's team with its last lead 15 seconds later, 5-4, with a neat head assist from Greg Villa.
"Messing was on the far post away from me, but that defender, Stren-uh- something (Gene Strenicer) was going to beat me to Greg's pass, so I pushed the ball in with my lower abdomen," john explained.
John played with a bandaged finger on his left hand.
"I cut it at home in a freak accident just before I left for the CHeckerdome," he said. "I was about to drink a glass of honey and warm water when I dropped the glass over the sink. Instinctively, I reached for the glass and caught it just as it broke in the sink. The finger bled all during the game."
Twenty-six seconds after the penalty to Tuska, the Steamers' Carl Rose was penalized for holding. The Steamers came within six seconds of killing the penalty, but Alberto's rebound of a Segota shot tied the score for the last time.
More articles...
HOME
