Borja Sets Record in Lazer Win
Lazer forward Chico Borja, Coach Keith Tozer’s prized acquisition before the start of the season, needed one point in Friday night’s game against the Baltimore Blast to break the club’s single-season scoring record.
Borja, 29, playing in his fourth Major Indoor Soccer League season, wasted little time in accomplishing that task, assisting on the game’s first goal 1:50 into the game.
Borja and Thompson Usiyan, who had four goals, then went on to lead the Lazers to a 12-6 victory over the Blast before 5,354 fans at the Forum.
It was Usiyan’s best game as a Lazer. He has 36 goals and 22 assists this season for Los Angeles, which handed the Blast their fourth straight loss.
The Lazers, who gave up 10 goals in losing to the Kansas City Comets Tuesday night, built a 5-0 first-quarter lead over the Blast--which tied a club record for goals in a period--and led, 7-0, before giving up a goal to Tim Whittman midway through the second quarter.
Borja, playing his first season as a Lazer, finished with four assists and two goals for six points, which gave him 78 for the season, surpassing the 72 points scored by former Lazer Poli Garcia during the 1983-84 season.
With 12 games remaining, Borja is 6 goals shy of the 42 tallied by Stuart Lee during the ‘84-85 season.
Asked if the accomplishment made him proud, Borja replied: “Not yet. My job isn’t over yet, when the season ends and I have time to go over things, then I’ll be pleased.”
But Tozer has to be pleased with Borja, who has scored six points in two of the Lazers’ last three games.
“We needed a big goal scorer and Chico gave us just that,” Tozer said. “Just by being on the field he makes other players around him play better.”
Trailing, 9-2, early in the third period, Baltimore managed to pull to within four goals with 10 minutes remaining, but the Lazers’ Jim Gabarra and Usiyan scored unanswered goals to put the game out of reach.
The victory moved the Lazers into a third-place tie with the Tacoma Stars in the Western Division and gave them a three-game cushion over the Wichita Wings, who lost in overtime Friday to the last-place St. Louis Steamers.
With the victory, the Lazers (22-22) have hit the .500 mark for the 14th time this season.
The Blast (20-26), which received two inconsequential goals from their top scorer Tim Whittman, is in last place in the East, trailing the first-place Minnesota Strikers by 6 1/2 games.
