San Diego Sockers Game Notes at Las Vegas Legends
February 13, 2015 - Major Arena Soccer League (MASL)
San Diego Sockers News Release
San Diego Sockers (15-3) at Las Vegas Legends (11-7)
DATE: Friday, February 13th, 2015
PLACE: Orleans Arena
TIME: 7:35pm PST
ESPN Radio 1700-AM (radio)
GoLiveSportsCast (video)
PLEASE CHECK MASLSOCCER.COM FOR UP-TO-DATE STANDINGS
SOCKERS AND LEGENDS MEET AGAIN
The San Diego Sockers (15-3) take on the Las Vegas Legends (11-7) in a possible Pacific Division playoff preview Friday night at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Sockers have clinched the MASL Pacific Division and will await the winner between Ontario and Las Vegas in a one-game playoff on March 7th. Tonight's contest is the fourth meeting of the year between San Diego and Las Vegas, with the Sockers holding a 2-1 series lead. The teams last met on November 23rd, with Las Vegas claiming a 9-7 victory at the Orleans.
LAST GAME: SOCKERS 9, FURY 5
The Sockers clinched the Pacific Division with a 9-5 victory over the Ontario Fury on Thursday night in front of 4.253 fans at the Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario. Nick Perera and Kraig Chiles each scored hat tricks to pace the San Diego attack, while midfielder Ney contributed a goal and assist. The Sockers used a five goal run in the second half to turn a 4-3 Ontario lead into an 8-4 advantage. Chris Toth (11-3) picked up the win in goal.
RIVALRY RESUMED: SOCKERS-LEGENDS
The Sockers and Legends have developed a heated rivalry over the course of three seasons, with close games the norm. Facing one another three times early in the season, San Diego prevailed at home by scores of 5-4 (OT) and 7-2, only to see the Legends turn the tables and post a 9-7 victory in Las Vegas. In regular season games the Sockers are 4-2 against the Legends in the regular season and 1-1 in the playoffs. Las Vegas is 1-2 against the Sockers at the Orleans Arena all-time, with San Diego pulling out 6-5 and 7-5 wins in past years and losing 9-7 earlier this season.
MOLINA IN GOAL TONIGHT
Veteran goalkeeper Jesus "Chuy" Molina gets the call in goal tonight for San Diego. He is 4-0 with a 5.00 GAA this season.
CHILES PADS MASL GOALS LEAD
Back-to-back hat tricks have pushed Sockers captain Kraig Chiles to the top of the MASL goals list. His 45 goals are four ahead of second place (Gordy Gurson, STL-41). Chiles has scored 40+ goals and 60+ points in four consecutive seasons and his 62 points rank second in the MASL (Leo Gibson, MIS-72). In addition, according to MASL/PASL Stats, Sockers captain Kraig Chiles has recorded at least one point in 63 consecutive matches dating back to November 19th, 2011 when he was held pointless in a 7-6 OT win against the Anaheim Bolts. The streak is the longest in PASL/MASL history.
PERERA RETURNS EMPHATICALLY WITH HATTY
Returning from a one-game red card suspension, Sockers forward Nick Perera made his presence felt in a big way against the Ontario Fury, netting his fourth hat trick of the season. Approaching his first 50-point season as a pro, Perera is now tied for sixth in the MASL with 48 points (26 goals, 22 assists). With two more points, Perera would join Kraig Chiles in the 50-point club. The Sockers would be only the second team in the MASL with two 50+ point players (Missouri: Leo Gibson/Vahid Assadpour) were that to occur.
FARBER FINDING FORM LATE IN SEASON
After struggling with a knee injury for much of the 2014-15 season, midfielder Brian Farber is starting to find his form once again. Farber recorded a goal and assist against the Fury and has picked up ten points over his past five games (4 goals, 6 assists).
LUIS PIFFER OUT FOR SEASON
The win over Baltimore on February 7th came at a heavy cost for the remainder of the season. Defender Luis Piffer came down on top of an opponent's foot going for a header early in the third quarter and suffered a non-displaced fracture in his right ankle. Piffer will be lost for the remainder of the season and playoffs.
TOTH EARNS TEAM OF WEEK HONORS
Sockers goalkeeper Chris Toth was a clear choice for the MASL Team of the Week honors after his twelve save performance against the Baltimore Blast. Several times in the first half Toth was asked to stand tall to prevent Baltimore from taking the lead, including a point blank stop of Drew Ruggles from the middle of the crease. To start the third quarter, Adriano Dos Santos was unmarked on the Sockers' back post and got a clean pass only to be shocked when Toth materialized post-to-post to make the stop. On the season Chris is 11-3 with a 4.83 goals against average.
VELEZ MATCHES HIS SOCKERS BEST
Eduardo Velez continues the best scoring season of his Sockers career and the second-best of his pro indoor career. With the go-ahead second half goal against Ontario, Velez matched his previous Sockers season-best for points (15 goals, 18 assists, 33 points). It's the second time in the career of "El Vaquero" that he has topped the 30-point mark (33 with SD in 2012-13) and trails only his 52-point season as the focus of the Revolucion Tijuana attack in 2010-11. Velez is four assists away from matching his career high in that category.
SPECIAL TEAMS KEY TONIGHT
Both the Sockers and the Las Vegas Legends depend on a strong power play to ignite their attack. The Sockers have converted on 13 of their past 19 man advantage situations, moving up to third in the league overall in efficiency (52.4%), trailing only Missouri (63%) and Detroit (59%). The Sockers' 22 power play goals rank fourth in the league while their 40 opportunities are sixth. The Legends are equally strong on the man advantage, converting on 24 of 47 chances (51%), 7th best in the MASL.
BOWERS JOINS SOCKERS RADIO FOR HOME GAMES
Thursday's game and all 20 regular season MASL Sockers games will be carried live on ESPN Radio 1700-AM in San Diego. Audio streaming is available at www.espnradio1700.com. In addition, every MASL game has video streaming live on GoLiveSportsCast.com, including all Sockers games. Former Sockers star defender Sean "The Tower of Power" Bowers has signed on to join Craig Elsten on color commentary for the remaining home games of the season including playoffs. Bowers played pro soccer both in the MLS outdoors with the Kansas City Wizards (1996-99) and indoors with multiple teams from 1992-2010, including three stints with the San Diego Sockers (1992, 2003-05, 2009-10) and one with the Baltimore Blast (2001-03). Bowers' appearances on Sockers radio are presented by 619 Futsal.
NEY ANGLES FOR "ROY" CONSIDERATION
Brazilian rookie midfielder Ney continues to ignite the Sockers attack with his creativity and ability to finish and should be considered a top candidate for MASL Rookie of the Year. In just ten games of professional indoor soccer, Ney has a pair of hat tricks and 15 goals overall as well as five assists (20 points). Ney has tended to strike at key times, including the game-tying goal in the third quarter against Ontario on Thursday night. Ney has converted 15 of his 23 shots on goal this season. He came to the Sockers from Brazilian first-division professional futsal.
MASL NOTES
- The Sockers' clinching of the Pacific Division also settles the playoff calendar for the coming weeks. San Diego will host a one-game Pacific Division championship game on Saturday, March 7th. The opponent will be determined by a playoff between the Legends and Fury the week prior.
- Las Vegas head coach Doug Borgel will be forced to sit out tonight's game after taking a red card after the Legends' overtime victory against Baltimore last week. Meir Cohen and Dominic Scicluna will run the team.
- With 243 goals in his Sockers PASL/MASL career, Kraig Chiles is now eleven goals away from Juli Veee's record for goals in a Sockers career (254).
OPPONENT PROFILE: LAS VEGAS LEGENDS (11-7)
Much like the Ontario Fury before them, the Las Vegas Legends (11-7) have undergone a roster makeover in an attempt to fortify their side for the playoffs and a possible meeting with the Sockers in the division championship playoff. Their key acquisition was a return for Enrique "Qeeks" Tovar, last year's team captain. Tovar was player/coach of the Turlock Express this year before being released the week prior to the Feburary 1 st roster freeze. He signed with the Legends and contributed three blocked shots in his first game, a 5-4 OT win against previously undefeated Baltimore. The Legends have been "giant killers" this season, handing San Diego, Monterrey and Baltimore their first losses of the year. Forward Hiram Ruiz has twelve points in six games since being acquired by the Legends (8 goals, 4 assists). Las Vegas raised eyebrows by purchasing the owner/coach/player most associated with the Detroit Waza Flo, Dominic Scicluna, just prior to the roster freeze. Scicluna was on the bench as an assistant coach against the Blast. Ivan Campos (16g, 24a, 40p) and Felipe Gonzalez (14g, 14a, 28p) lead the Legends in scoring. Goalkeeper and team captain Zeke Sanchez is a volatile presence who tends to rise up in big games. He is 10-7 with a 5.45 GAA and .747 save percentage on the season.
• Discuss this story on the Major Arena Soccer League message board...
Major Arena Soccer League Stories from February 13, 2015
- MASL Announces Division Playoff Formats and Scenarios - MASL
- Blast Defeat Lancers 11-0 - Baltimore Blast
- Major Arena Soccer League Announces Division Playoff Formats - Kansas City Comets
- San Diego Sockers Game Notes at Las Vegas Legends - San Diego Sockers
- Match Preview: Comets Looking to Become Kansas City's Winningest Professional Team - Kansas City Comets
- MASL Weekly - Week 16 - MASL
- Mustangs Play Pair this Weekend - Chicago Mustangs
- Fury Can't Stop Sockers in Second Half, Fall 9-5 - Ontario Fury
- Sockers Clinch MASL Pacific Division with 9-5 Win over Fury - San Diego Sockers
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
