Only 200 Show Up to See Lazers Win, 3-1

Suppose they held a professional soccer game and nobody showed up.

Sound unlikely?

Welcome to the Forum. It’s Saturday afternoon. The big game--the traditional cross-town rivalry between the UCLA and USC football teams--is in progress at the Rose Bowl.

The Lazers, who have trouble drawing support under normal circumstances, are playing host to the Tacoma Stars in a Major Indoor Soccer League match at the same time.

The crowd?

About 200 were scattered throughout the 17,000-seat Forum Saturday as the Lazers defeated Tacoma, 3-1.

“I can actually count the people,” Tacoma’s Dick Calvert, the Voice of the Stars, told his audience. For those few on hand, the game had its moments.

For instance:

--After being outshot, 17-10, in the first half, which ended in a 1-1 tie, the Lazers took control, passing and moving easily against Tacoma, which played sluggishly in the second half. Forward Gary Heale capitalized on two of those passes, scoring a pair of third-period goals to put the Lazers (3-1) ahead. Heale has 5 goals in 4 games.

--Lazer goalkeeper Jim Gorsek (3-0), had 12 saves and improved his MISL-leading goals-against average to 1.5 a game after allowing only Preki’s first-quarter score.

--The Lazers, who were successful in killing 2 Tacoma power plays, have stopped all 14 opponent power plays this season.

When asked if the shortage of fans affected his team’s play, Coach Alan Hinton of the Stars (0-4) said: “That would be a very easy excuse to make, but I’m not in the mood for making excuses. A small crowd has nothing to do with losing.”

Lazer Coach Keith Tozer, perhaps aware of the fact that Southland fans might have other interests Saturday afternoon, prepared his team before the game.

“I told our team that whether we get 10 or 10,000 (fans), we’ve got to come out and play with the attitude that we’re going to win,” he said.