Match Preview
February 17, 2023 - Major Arena Soccer League (MASL)
San Diego Sockers News Release
Preview
The San Diego Sockers--presented by Kaiser Permanente San Diego--wrap up their Texas weekend with a showdown against the Mesquite Outlaws at Mesquite Arena, just outside the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex. The match is scheduled for a 5:05pm PST kickoff and will be streamed live on Twitch on channel @masl_soccer.
The Sockers (12-1, 35 points) and Outlaws (9-3-2, 27 points) clash for the third and final time this season, and the first time in Texas. San Diego is 2-0 against Mesquite this season, with wins by 5-4 and 7-2 margins on December 18 and February 3. The all-time series is 3-1 in favor of San Diego, dating back to Mesquite's inaugural season in 2019-20. The Outlaws took the previous two seasons off due to the COVID epidemic. In the Sockers' only prior trip to Mesquite Arena in February of 2020, they lost 5-3.
Mesquite has been an excellent home side, posting a 5-1-1 record at Mesquite Arena so far this season. The Sockers, playing their fourth match of a six-match road trip, are 6-1 on the road this season. The club's 17-match road winning streak was broken by Ontario on February 8, as was the club's overall 30-match regular season winning streak.
The Sockers are attempting a MASL championship three-peat, something the Baltimore Blast accomplished from 2015-18. San Diego went 23-0-1 in 2021-22 and 6-0-1 in the playoffs to claim their second straight Ron Newman Cup. The Ron Newman Cup was created in 2011-12 as the championship trophy of the PASL and carried over to the MASL when the PASL and MISL merged in 2014. The Sockers have won four Ron Newman Cups and sixteen championships overall in franchise history.
On Thursday, the Sockers faced the Dallas Sidekicks to start their Texas trip, posting a 7-4 victory at the Credit Union of Texas Event Center in Allen. Charlie Gonzalez and Felipe Gonzalez each had two goals to pace the Sockers' attack, while Tavoy Morgan added a goal and two assists. San Diego netted all seven of their goals in the first half before bunkering in for an 0-1 second half that led to the 7-4 final result. The Sockers won their eleventh straight match against the Sidekicks.
Mesquite (9-3-2, 27 points) is showing surprising life in the MASL standings after taking two seasons away from active participation. Under the tutelage of indoor legend Tatu, the Outlaws have shown opportunistic scoring with a young lineup. The club is led by goalkeeper Eduardo "Pollo" Cortes, who has played all but two minutes in net this season, ranking T-3rd in wins (9), sixth in GAA (5.04) and sixth in SV% (.721). His 181 saves rank second in the league. Offensively, the Outlaws have been missing top goal scorer Luiz Morales (17 goals) for the past three matches. Sebastian Mendez leads the club in scoring with (16-11') points on the season, but four double-digit goal scorers, with David Ortiz (11) and Axel Chakounte (11) also contributing. Mesquite has some bite in their lineup: Mendez leads the league with 24 penalty minutes, and David Ortiz is second in the MASL with 31 fouls committed.
Storylines
Matches Since Last Loss: 2
Last Wednesday's loss in Ontario hit reset for the San Diego Sockers on five different winning streaks. The club had won ten in a row to start the season, and fourteen straight in all competitions. The Sockers' 17-match road winning streak was erased, as was the team's MASL-record 30-match regular season winning streak. Lastly, the Sockers had not lost in regulation since March 13, 2021, also to the Fury/Strykers at Ontario Arena, a 6-4 result. As such, the team's 47-0-4 "point streak" came to an end. San Diego now defends a two-match overall winning streak, and still has a 16-match home winning streak to protect when they return to Pechanga Arena in March.
Mr. 100: Boris Pardo on MVP Track
The defending MASL Elite VI goalkeeper and MASL Goalkeeper of the Year, 38-year-old Boris Pardo has maintained his all-league form in 2022-23. Pardo is 12-1 in thirteen starts, having played all but 60 minutes total in net this season. He leads the MASL in wins (12), GAA (3.38) and ranks sixth in SV% (.739). All-time in MASL history, Pardo improved his career record to 103-23-7, three wins ahead of second-place William Vanzela. Pardo was the first MASL goalkeeper to reach the 100-win plateau, a feat matched by Vanzela last weekend. In 2021-22, Pardo led the MASL in wins (19-0-1 record) and goals-against average (4.20 GAA), while his .731 save percentage was second in the league. Pardo was even better in the playoffs, starting all seven matches and posting a 6-0-1 record, 3.36 GAA and .767 SV%. In 2018-19, Pardo won his first Goalkeeper of the Year award, winning a league-record 22 games in net (22-1 record).
Mostly Dominant Defense
In the first ten matches of the 2022-23 campaign, the defense allowed 31 goals (3.10 per match). The 10-4 loss to Empire increased San Diego's total goals allowed by almost 25%. The Sockers have allowed seven goals in their past two wins. Sockers defenders have combined to deny more shots than any other club in the MASL, helping San Diego out-shoot their opponents 363-245 (60-40%). The Sockers have allowed 20 shots or fewer in nine of thirteen matches this season, holding their most recent opponent, Dallas, to 17. In 2021-22, the Sockers were the only MASL club to allow fewer than 100 goals in the regular season, conceding 98, an average of 4.08 goals per match.
Our Leader? Balance.
The Sockers are a club without a singular focus of attack, instead able to beat you across all three lines. San Diego averages 6.5 goals per match, second only to Chihuahua (8.0), and the Savage benefit from a small-sided home floor where their goals average soars to 9.4-per-match. Empire leads the MASL with 103 goals, but with 16 matches complete, they average 6.4 goals-per-match. The Sockers sport ten players with at least four goals, and eight with double-digit points scored this season.
Power Play Plugged Back In
The Sockers are surging after a slow start on the power play, with goals in 12-of-18 recent man-advantages (67%). The improvement has moved San Diego up to first in the MASL in conversion percentage (15-for-31, 48%). The Sockers are tied with Mesquite for the most power play goals in the league (15). San Diego's penalty kill is 14-for-20 at preventing goals (70%), second-best in the West (Monterrey, .708) and second only to Florida (19-for-24, 79%) in the league. The Sockers are tied for the MASL lead with two short-handed goals. Last year, San Diego led the MASL in both power play efficiency (27-for-45, 60%) and penalty killing efficiency (16-for-22, 73%) during the 2021-22 season. Tavoy Morgan led the MASL with nine power play goals and the club set an all-time franchise record with a six-for-six power play performance on February 12 against the Tacoma Stars. In 2022-23, Charlie Gonzalez leads the club with four power play goals.
Charlie Golazo Breaks Out
Midfielder Juan Carlos "Charlie" Gonzalez is breaking out after a slow start to the season, riding a six-match goal scoring streak into Saturday, scoring ten during the surge. Gonzalez ranks T-2nd in goals (13) and is third in points (19) on the club. Gonzalez led the Sockers attack on January 29 against Chihuahua, netting a first-half hat trick, then paced the club with a goal and two assists against Mesquite on February 3. Last season in his first campaign with the Sockers, Charlie set a career high with 39 points (23 goals, 16 assists) in 21 matches played.
Bull Roars on the Road, Lends Helping Hand
Coming off a career-best 39 goal/49 point season, forward Tavoy Morgan is once again leading the Sockers in goals (14) and points (23). In seven road matches, Morgan has twelve goals, including three hat tricks. At home, Tavoy has been held to two goals and three assists in six matches. While his goal scoring has been less robust so far this season, Tavoy is on a five-match assist streak, collecting six helpers in that timespan. Morgan is one assist away from tying his career-high in the category, set twice (2021-22, 2018-19).
Farber Flourishes in Limited Role
Veteran midfielder Brian Farber struggled with injury all last season and posted the first-ever scoreless line of his career, netting zero points in four matches. Combined with a adversity-filled COVID season, Farber had only one goal in eleven matches coming into this season, and experienced difficulty drawing into the lineup. However, in limited work the 40-year-old has more than shown his worth, scoring a goal in each of his first three appearances and fashioning a (4-1=5) points total in four matches.
Leo the Pass Master
Brazilian midfielder Leonardo de Oliveira picked up three assists against Dallas, moving into a tie for first place in the league with 15 assists (KC, John Sosa). Last season, "Leo" led the MASL with 33 assists, earning the league's first-ever "Pass Master" award. Leo's total was six higher than second-place finisher Nick Perera. Combined with 13 goals on the season, de Oliveira's 46 points scored ranked tied for fifth in the league. Leo added his 100th career MASL goal during the season, and has 111 goals and 256 points in his indoor career, an average of 1.90 points-per-match. His 145 career assists are the fifth-most in MASL history.
Golden Gutierrez
Sockers forward Christian Gutierrez has emerged over the past three seasons as one of the preeminent two-way forwards in the MASL. In addition to being tasked with patrolling the defensive side of the floor, Gutierrez is a potent counter-attack striker who often opens up matches late in the fourth quarter, especially against the empty net. Nine of Gutierrez's thirteen goals have been scored in the fourth quarter this season. In San Diego's recent match against Tacoma, Gutierrez scored into the empty net against the six-attacker formation twice in the final two minutes, securing the victory. On the season, Gutierrez is second on the club with 13 goals and T-4th with 15 points.
Chiles Seeks a Return to Lineup, and to Form
Sockers captain Kraig Chiles is the franchise's all-time leader in goals (445) and points (645), and is on the long approach to 400 points in the MASL (242-124=366 career, fourth-most). The captain had to sit out Thursday's match in Dallas due to coaching duties with the Cardiff Sockers, but is expected back in the lineup on Saturday. Chiles has been shut out in each of his last two matches, a rare scoring drought: it's only the second time in his past 46 MASL matches that Chiles has failed to score in back-to-back outings. The Sockers are hoping for a bounce-back similar to earlier this season in Harrisburg, when Chiles was shut out on Saturday night and came back with his top-scoring match of the season the next day, netting two goals with three assists.
Electric Escoto Unplugged After Review
Sockers midfielder and Tijuana native Brandon Escoto was issued a two-match suspension by the MASL on Tuesday morning, after a team-submitted film review of a play in which he contacted Empire's Gabriel Costa after the whistle, and will miss the Mesquite match. "Churras" has at least one point in all ten matches he has played this season. A prolific and dangerous scorer, Brandon has (8-6=14) points in ten matches played. In his career, Escoto averages almost a goal-per-match, with 135 goals scored in 141 matches played. Escoto was one of the most balanced attackers in the MASL in 2021-22, finishing in the MASL's top-10 in both goals and assists with (21-23=44) points, good for T-7th in the league. Escoto added five goals and three assists in the playoffs, including the go-ahead goal in Game One of the Ron Newman Cup Finals. Escoto scored two goals in the Game Two Finals clincher.
Injury/Suspension Notes
Midfielder Hiram "Pollo" Ruiz has been dogged by lower body injuries and is not on the Texas trip. Midfielder Sean Callahan made his season debut in Pollo's place on Thursday in Dallas. Defender Cesar Cerda returns to the lineup after missing the Thursday match while serving a one-match suspension. Ismael Rojo, who was unable to dress the last three seasons due to P-1 visa issues, has started the last five of the last seven matches but has yet to record his first Sockers MASL regular season point scored.
Player Highlights
Cesar Cerda
Top-scoring defender has (4-8=12) points, is second on the team with 13 blocks
Felipe Gonzalez
Scored two goals in Dallas on Thursday
Xavier Snaer-Williams
Backup keeper played fourth quarter in Dallas, stopping 4-of-5 shots
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