American Professional Soccer League

The Salsa of the American Professional Soccer League team announced Tuesday that five players have been loaned to indoor teams. Forward Paul Wright will play for the Baltimore Blast, midfielder Dale Ervine with play for the Wichita Wings and defender Richard Ryerson will join the Cleveland Crunch. Goalkeepers Danny Pena and Mike Littman will play for Dayton Dynamo and St. Louis Ambush.

Star midfielder Paulinho scored two goals for the second consecutive game to lead the Salsa to a 2-0 victory over Vancouver Friday night at Swangard Stadium. Paulinho, last season's league MVP and scoring champion, scored his first goal off a deflection and the second on a penalty kick. He also scored both goals in the team's 2-1 victory over Vancouver Saturday night. The shutout was goalkeeper Mike Littman's second in three starts.

Mike Littman had three consecutive saves in the shootout to help the Salsa beat host Ft. Lauderdale in an American Professional Soccer League game Saturday. The score was tied, 0-0, after overtime and the Salsa won the shootout, 2-1, to be credited with a 1-0 victory. Paul Wright and Jose Vasquez scored in the shootout for the Salsa (2-2), which has won two in a row. Alex Sanchez scored for Ft. Lauderdale (1-1), but Littman then made three consecutive saves.

After opening with five consecutive road games, the Salsa will have its American Professional Soccer League home opener July 24 against the Seattle Sounders at Cal State Fullerton's Titan Stadium. The Salsa will open the season July 1 and 8, in Denver against the Colorado Foxes, who defeated the Salsa for the league championship last season. The schedule: July--1 at Colorado; 8 at Colorado; 14 at Houston; 16 at Ft. Lauderdale; 22 at Vancouver; 24 vs. Seattle; 28 vs. Ft. Lauderdale.

The Montreal Impact scored early in the second half and recorded a 1-0 victory over the Salsa in a American Professional Soccer League game Friday before 3,672 in Claude-Robillard Centre. The victory moves the Impact into a second-place tie with the Salsa. Each club has 72 points. Seattle is in first place with 87 points. It was the third time this season that Montreal has beaten Los Angeles. Lloyd Barker scored for Montreal 10 minutes into the second half.

The Salsa beat the Vancouver 86ers, 3-2, on Paul Wright's penalty kick in the closing seconds of an American Professional Soccer League game Wednesday night before 4,696 spectators at Swangard Stadium. The victory kept the Salsa (11-8) in second place with 98 points. The Salsa fell behind in the opening minute when the 86ers' Domenic Mobilio scored the first of his two goals. The Salsa's Paulinho, who leads the league in scoring, tied the score at 1-1.

The L.A. Salsa blew a one-goal lead in the final 13 minutes on Sunday, allowing Vancouver to earn a 3-2 American Professional Soccer League victory at Cal State Fullerton. Vancouver, leading the APSL, got a goal from Domenic Mobilio at the 77-minute mark and another from Mobilio at the 86-minute mark before 2,082. "It's impossible for me to stop three one-on-ones a game," Salsa goalkeeper Ian Feuer said angrily. "I've never been with a team that gave up so many one-on-ones.

Unable to put together much offense, the Salsa lost to the Tampa Bay Rowdies, 2-0, in an American Professional Soccer League match Saturday before 8,000 at Tampa Stadium. The Salsa (6-3) fell behind early in the first period after Rowdies' Michael Brady scored the first of his two goals. His second goal came midway in the second half on a Tampa breakaway. The Salsa had only two scoring opportunities. The first came when forward Paul Wright slipped the ball past two defenders but shot wide.

For the second consecutive game, the first-place Vancouver 86ers beat the fourth-place Salsa in a shootout to earn a 3-2 victory in the American Professional Soccer League. Saturday, the 86ers (15-9) did it at Titan Stadium. Wednesday, they did it in Vancouver after a 2-2 tie in regulation and a 15-minute overtime period. The Salsa's Paul Wright scored in the last five minutes of regulation put pull the Salsa (12-10) into a tie.

A pair of victories in the final week of the regular season propelled the Los Angeles Heat into first place in the Southern Division of the American Professional Soccer League West. The Heat defeated Arizona Friday, 2-0, and New Mexico Saturday, 5-1. Former Cal State Dominguez Hills forward Joe Flanagan, who holds the school's career scoring record, scored the team's first goal and added an assist in his first start to help defeat New Mexico. Two weeks ago, the Heat were in last place.