Slobo Slows His Wandering
by Tom Barnidge
The full name isn't Slobo Ilijevski, it's Slobodan, he was explaining. And in
Yugoslavia, where the name is a bit more popular than in this oountry,it
translates loosely to mean "free man."
That's free, as in free to wander away from the net. Free to twinkletoe
his way down the floor. It's a fitting name for the Steamers' goaltender,
who frequently deserts his station, dribbles past opponents and sometimes
terrifies his teammates and fans.
It's not that Slobo isn't excellent in the nets. He is. He may he the best in
the Major Indoor Soccer League. But in the heat of the moment, when the crowd
comes to life and the adrenalin pounds through his body, he tends to make
simple situations more exciting than need be with his exploits on the floor.
"Each year he's been in St. Louis," Coach Al Trost was saying, "he's grown
to love this team more and more. And he feels he's got to do more than guard
the goal to make things happen."
But once in a while, as was the case Sunday in Wichita, the things that
happen aren't all that good. Slobo had drifted far from the net to head a ball
away as the Steamers were clinging to a lead. To his chagrin, he arrived a tad
late. And he watched helplessly as the slow, bounding ball landed in the net.
"I blame myself for that," he said Wednesday night. And it was heavy
blame that he felt, because the Wings rallied and defeated the Steamers,
tying the best-of-three playoff series at one game apiece.
"I couldn't eat for two days," he said. "I felt terrible. I couldn't wait to
play again."
He was feeling better as he spoke on Wednesday, because the Steamers had
played and won, 4-1, at the Checkerdome. And Slobodan, having played his position well, could feel his
appetite beginning to return.
It was not merely coincidence, he conceded, that his wandering ways
were curtailed in Wednesday night's game. He said Trost had spoken with
him at some length and invoked the "90 percent rule." His instructions were not
to abandon the goal mouth unless he was 90 percent sure he'd get the ball.
"The game was too important. I didn't want to make a mistake. It was
kill or be killed," Ilijevski said, although neither his eyes nor his
expression suggested intentions of mayhem.
The only goal that Wichita sneaked past the Steamers' goalie was on a
power play in the last quarter. He turned 21 blasts aside. For most of the
evening, he was an impenetrable shield like the kind that Colgate used to
advertise.
"When he stays behind the line, he's awful tough to beat," said teammate
Don Ebert.
"When he stays behind the line," said teammate Steve Pecher, "he's the
best in the league."
When he stays bebind the line, which is where most goaltenders stay, Slobo
guards the net as if it's a newborn babe. But he wouldn't be Slobo if he didn't
what separates him from others.
Forward Tony Glavin was explaining once that it gives a team a
good feeling to know the goalkeeper's a confident sort; confident enough to
roam downfield with the ball. But there are limits to everything, including
confidence, and Slobo sometimes treads on the lin "What happens is, he tries to do too
much sometimes," said Ebert, understandingly. "But it gets you a
little rattled when the game is tight and you see him dribbling the ball down the
sideline. That's our job. We're to do that.
"The fans start chanting, 'Go, Go, Go,' and it's like a light clicks on in his
head. I'm saying, 'Back, Back, Back, get back there where you're supposed
to be.'
In the MISL semifinal series showdown, Ilijevski was where he was
supposed to be for 60 solid minutes, throwing his body at every missile that
came his way. He was a package of perspiration, toll, aches and bruises
when the last ticks of the clock ticked away.
"He gave us exactly the kind of game we needed," said Ehert. "As soon
as we got into the locker room, I told him I thought he played great. I was
happy for him. He was really down after we lost the last game."
And so now the team with the goaltender who's as mobile as a
skateboard will advance to New York to meet the Arrows in a best-of-five
championship final. There are apt to be some exciting moments, but Slobo isn't
planning on being the reason.
"When the defenders look back, they like to see their goaltender in the nets,"
Trost said, with a grin. "When he's gone from there, they go back and start
goaltending. Then, we've got everyone out of position."
Slobodan smiled a guilty smile. He knows the pitfalls of his gambling ways.
"Sometimes," he conceded, "it's better if I stay back."
Even if he is a free man.
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