Salsa Beats Montreal in a Shootout, 3-2 : Soccer: Team has to make do without Paulinho, who will miss three weeks because of an elbow injury.

FULLERTON — They remember him so well. The Salsa can still see the quickness, the skill, the long hair, the beard.

The thing is, their American Professional Soccer League season is only three games old. And they wish they weren’t already living on memories of Paulinho.

Their Brazilian star suffered a dislocated elbow during a scrimmage against the U.S. National Team last week and Salsa doctors told the club Friday that Paulinho will miss a minimum of three weeks.

Without him to spice up their offense, the Salsa struggled before defeating Montreal, 3-2, in a shootout in front of 4,172 in Titan Stadium on Friday.

After two games, Paulinho was leading the APSL in scoring with three goals and an assist. After three games, the Salsa remain undefeated but would sure welcome him back.

“We’re going to miss him very much,” said William De La Pena, Salsa owner and president. “He is a player that is very important to the L.A. Salsa.”

The turning point Friday didn’t come until, literally, the last kick, when Arut Karapetyan lifted a soft shot over the head of Toronto goalie Pat Harrington. Salsa goalie Ian Feuer, meanwhile, stopped all five of Montreal’s opportunities during the shootout.

This came after the teams raged through 90 minutes of regulation time and another 15 minutes of overtime and were still deadlocked, 2-2.

Like the Salsa, Montreal is an APSL expansion team. Also like the Salsa, the Impact quickly showed that it can play a little.

In an unusual scheduling twist, Friday was the season opener for the Impact--two weeks after the APSL began play. So far, Montreal has lived a life of luxury. In addition to being allowed the APSL’s version of sleeping in, they also got two weeks of training in Italy.

The regimen seemed to work as they had the Salsa on the ropes much of the game.

Montreal’s first goal came when Dino Lopez, assisted by Marco Rizi, scored on a header off of a corner kick. Feuer made the grave mistake of coming out too far, and Lopez knocked the ball right past him.

The Impact disrupted the Salsa offense noticeably, not allowing a goal until the 70-minute mark when Paul Wright tied it, 1-1, on a goal from just inside the penalty box.

Montreal’s Patrice Ferri booted in a free kick 80 minutes in, but the pesky Salsa came back a few minutes later to tie the score again on an Arturo Velazco header.

And a few minutes later, the Salsa learned they could be successful without Paulinho--if only for a night.

Salsa Notes

The Salsa has scheduled an exhibition doubleheader for next Sunday that will include the U.S. National team. The Salsa will play first, facing Chivas of Guadalajara--a member of the Mexican First Division--at 4:30 p.m. The U.S. National team will play Bolivia at 6:30 p.m. The games are at Titan Stadium on the Cal State Fullerton campus. Tickets are $15 and $12 and can be obtained by calling 714-54-SALSA or 213-88-SALSA. . . . The Salsa’s next regular season game is against Montreal on Friday at 7:15 p.m. The game was moved up from 8:05 because Chivas of Guadalajara will play an exhibition against the APSL’s Toronto Blizzard at 9. . . . Dr. William De La Pena, Salsa owner and president, said the Salsa is seeking entry into the Mexican First Division. The APSL and U.S. Soccer Federation have granted the Salsa permission to play in the league, De La Pena said, and the team is awaiting a final decision from the Mexican Federation. De La Pena said he expects to hear something in June and that the Salsa would start play in August or September. He also said he doesn’t see any problems juggling a Mexican League schedule with that of the APSL. “I see it as the perfect solution,” De La Pena said. “We’ll play from May to August in the United States and from August to May in Mexico.” . . . De La Pena confirmed that Javier Aguirre, a star from the Mexican League, has signed two-year contract with the Salsa and will join the team next weekend.