by Keith Weller, the assistant coach of the MISL’s, San Diego Sockers, saw Orf playing in a game in Fort Wayne and decided to bring him in to backup legendary goalkeeper, Victor Nogueira. The Sockers were looking for a solid keeper who also had good foot skills. With Nogueira out for double bunion surgery, the Sockers needed Orf in uniform as soon as possible. The day after Weller saw him play in the Fort Wayne, Orf was in San Diego with a Sockers jersey on.
The following year, Orf went to Cleveland to back-up starting goal keeper, PJ Johns. Orf describes his first impressions of playing in Cleveland and at Richfield Coliseum, “I was originally planning on going to Yugoslavia to see if I could make it in Europe. A week before I was to leave, I received a call from Kai Haasikvi asking me to tryout to be a member of the Cleveland Crunch. He was the coach at the time and wanted me to compete for the back-up job after they brought PJ Johns back from Tacoma. In the last two games of the preseason while competing for the backup job, something incredible happened against San Diego.
They had pulled their goalie to have a sixth attacker during a free kick attempt with the game tied and only a few seconds left on the clock. I was able to make the save, then ran to the top of the box and launched the ball all the way down the field into the opposing net.
The referee blew the whistle before the ball went in and called a foul, we ended up losing in overtime. This bit of action must have been enough because the coaching staff decided to keep me over Chris Peak for the back-up spot on the roster. It was a very nerve racking tryout in front of almost 19,000 fans. It is like I tell my kids that I coach, you need to be able to make the saves you should, because even a simple mistake may cost you a spot. I was able to deal with the pressure well because making it in the professional ranks takes a little bit of luck as well.”
Because of his rough experiences when he first came to the Crunch, Orf was ready to be a starter when Hindley finally needed him. Hindley’s plan was to combine Orf’s strong arm with the offensive outlets of Zoran Karic and Hector Marinaro. Orf shares how Hindley’s plan helped him to start on his road to be a great player, “The first couple years I played in Cleveland I had a poor record. I didn’t get to play at home, and most times would only get to play in the second half of a back-to-back on the road. My stats were not helped by this situation. At that time, salaries were based on statistics because of the players unions, it was very open and transparent.
These factors did not help and even winning half of your away games was seen as good. I had a prior relationship with Gary from 1990 when he took me down to Orlando, Florida to play outdoors. Even with extremely limited playing time, Gary saw how hard I worked and made sure I got paid accordingly. He told me upfront that I would be the backup and I was to hold up my end of the bargain as he would hold up his. He wanted me to work my butt off to drive the team and that’s exactly what I did.
Years later when Gary got the job in Cleveland, I already happened to be here, which was a good thing given our previous history. He knew the arm that I had and he was very smart because he knew he had the two best scorers in the league with Hector and Zoran. With my strong arm, it gave him the opportunity he saw to counter attack.
This new element made it a lot of fun for me because it gave me the chance to be more involved in the game. It is difficult to stay mentally in the game as a goalkeeper when you’re playing outdoors, however the indoor game gave us a chance to become instrumental in the game on offense and defense. It was a great opportunity for me to fire the ball down the field at the feet of the two best players in the league. As time went on, we would develop plays to make us even stronger. The budget of our team was spent on offense.
Our strength was not always on defense, so when we had the chance to make a good counter attack we scored at a much higher rate than other teams because of this new system in place. It was a risk-versus-reward as we would have a forward hang back and not play defense, the percentages were in our favor with those two set to take the passes downfield and score.”
As Otto was doing his best to stop everything that came at him in the goal, it was fellow star player, Hector Marinaro, who became a scoring dynamo every time he touched the ball. Hector came from a soccer pedigree that few could beat. Marinaro grew up in Canada. His dad, who was originally from Argentina, excelled at playing and then coaching soccer. Hector recalls growing up in locker rooms and looking up to the players that his dad coached. He would dream of one day being a player himself. His dad was his hero. Hector called him a great coach, a great dad: the whole package.
Hector played in a variety of ethnic soccer leagues. He would play against different cultures such as the Croatians, British, Serbians, Latinos, Portuguese and Greeks. He was around people that displayed great passion for the game which helped to enhance his love of the game. Hector recalls in 1978 going to the Maple Leaf Gardens to watch the championship game of the World Cup with Argentina versus the Netherlands on closed circuit TV. Argentina took home the World Cup with a 3-1 win. Growing up in Canada, he also did play his share of hockey in the wintertime. He played both hockey and soccer since he was four years old.
Hector played on the championship Toronto Italia Soccer team in 1983, which was also coached by his dad. His teammates included Donny Biggs and Peter Zezel, who both went on to play in the National Hockey League after they were finished playing soccer. A little later that year, Hector was offered a contract with the Cleveland Force of the MISL.
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