Lost Quarter Is Costly to Blast : Soccer: Sockers come back late to take first game of the semifinal series, 5-4.

SAN DIEGO â€”  The MSL playoffs started Wednesday night, but the Sockers showed up three quarters late--even after they promised to be there with renewed vigor to make up for losing five of the last seven regular-season games.

No problem, the Sockers said after each loss, they were only waiting to turn it on in the playoffs. Just wait.

One quarter went by, and the Sockers trailed by one. Two quarters, and they trailed by two. Ten minutes into the third, and they trailed by three.

The switch seemed rusted in the off position.

But it was only some sort of practical joke. The Sockers weren’t playing the Blast as much as they were playing with the Blast. They came from three goals down and scored five times in the final 26 minutes to take Game 1 of their semifinal series, 5-4.

Game 2 is Friday at the Sports Arena, where a season-low crowd of 5,599 showed up Wednesday.

The Sockers’ late arrival can be attributed to the Blast’s defensive strategy. They put all five field players back on defense.

“It was almost like we were on a power play the whole time,” Sockers Coach Ron Newman said.

The Sockers outshot the Blast, 39-14, but the Blast managed to lead, 3-0.

“They came here to get some sort of result,” Newman said. “And you have to give them a lot of credit. They did a hell of a job--and it almost worked. They only had three or four chances all night, but they scored on every one of them.”

But the dam began to leak 11 minutes 23 seconds into the third quarter. Paul Wright dribbled the ball through the midfield and shot from along the right boards. It was headed toward the far post, but Socker defender Kevin Crow stuck his right foot out and deflected the ball just inside the near post to start the Sockers’ comeback.

“That first goal really helped us,” said midfielder Thompson Usiyan. “Ron told us to keep going, that scoring one goal would give us three, and he was right.”

Usiyan scored the Sockers’ second goal, his first of two this night, while trying to bounce a pass off the end boards. Before Usiyan’s pass could find a teammate, Baltimore’s Emil Dragicevic inadvertently knocked it into his goal.

Six minutes later defender Alex Golovnia left the ball at the top of the arc for Paul Dougherty, who ran onto it and booted it into the net to tie it at 3.

It didn’t stay that way long.

Dougherty came through with a precise crossing pass to the back post from the left boards with three minutes remaining, and Wright was right there to deflect the pass into the net for the Sockers first lead, 4-3.

But the Blast did not deflate. They came back a minute later to tie it. Jean Harbor picked up a loose ball in the penalty area and put it past Nogueira.

Just as overtime loomed, Dougherty started a sequence that ended with his third assist of the night, looping a pass into the middle of the penalty area for Usiyan, who scissor-kicked it high into the goal.

“I call that a lucky goal,” Usiyan said. “It was desperation.”

While the Sockers were predictably giddy after the game, the Blast locker room was somber.

“You’ve got to play for 60 minutes,” Coach Kenny Cooper said, his being the only voice heard in a room with 14 players. “We just had a couple little break downs and they cost us. . . . In the end the Sockers sensed it. They managed to get to that next level.”

The loss was particularly demoralizing to the Blast because their strategy paid such handsome dividends through three quarters. It appeared they had reversed their regular-season fate when they lost five of six games to the Sockers.

“We’re just going to regroup, come back and go from there,” Cooper said.

MSL Notes

The Dallas Sidekicks, who begin their semifinal series at home against the Cleveland Crunch on Tuesday, confirmed Wednesday what everyone already knew: Goalie Joe Papaleo is lost until next season after undergoing reconstructive surgery on the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. Papaleo finished as the MSL’s second-leading goalie with a 5.26 goals-against average in 31 games. The Sidekicks now must rely on reserve Hank Henry (6.78 and a 1-7 record) and veteran free-agent Scott Manning, signed Wednesday. Earlier this season the Wichita Wings signed Manning to a temporary contract to fill in for injured regular Kris Peat. Manning compiled a 7.11 goals-against average and a 1-5 record. . . . The board of directors announced that they will tinker with the schedule for a second-consecutive season. All teams will play 44 games in 1992-93, four more than they did this season. . . . The Sockers crowds for the rest of the series aren’t expected to grow much. Game 2 will compete against the Padres, who play host to the Dodgers in the second home game of the year. Games 6 and 7 are scheduled on consecutive nights, April 20-21. Historically sports teams have their worst draws on Mondays and Tuesdays, but the Sockers have little choice. The only other available Arena dates in April are 27, 28 and 29, Monday through Wednesday.