MASL San Diego Sockers

San Diego Sockers Game Notes vs. Las Vegas

November 20, 2014 - Major Arena Soccer League (MASL)
San Diego Sockers News Release


Las Vegas Legends (1-2) at San Diego Sockers (3-0)

DATE: Thursday, November 20th, 2014

PLACE: Valley View Casino Center

TIME: 7:35pm PST

0 ESPN Radio 1700-AM (radio)

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CRITICAL HOME-AND-HOME SERIES BEGINS

The San Diego Sockers face a brace of games likely to set the parameters for the Pacific Division race the rest of the season. For the second and third times already in the MASL campaign, the Sockers and Las Vegas Legends meet, playing twice in four days over two venues. Thursday night's home game is the final time San Diego will see Vegas at the VVCC this season; the two sides meet for the first of two meetings at the Orleans Arena this season on Sunday afternoon at 3pm.

LAST GAME: SOCKERS 7, FURY 2

The Sockers improved to 3-0 on the season with a concerted effort on defense and a consistently improving offense Sunday night against the Ontario Fury. While the visiting Fury blanked the Sockers in the first quarter and scored the game's first goal, San Diego took control from there, scoring two goals in the second, three in the third and two more in the fourth before a late tally from the Fury. Nick Perera led the way offensively for the Sockers for the second straight game, netting a hat trick with an assist. Kraig Chiles scored a pair of goals, with Dan Antoniuk and Matias Kruger also finding the back of the net for San Diego.

PERERA EARNS WEEKLY MASL HONOR

San Diego's new top target forward has made quite an impression in his second tour of duty with the Sockers. On the heels of a six-point game in Seattle (four goals, two assists), Nick Perera scored three goals with an assist in the Sockers' 7-2 win over the Fury. On the season Perera is second in the MASL in points (13 in three games, trailing Missouri's Leo Gibson-15), and on Wednesday Nick became the first Socker named to the MASL's weekly all-league team. Perera leads the team in goals (seven), assists (six) and points (thirteen). Nick's six assists trails Turlock's Enrique Tovar (seven) by one for the MASL lead, while his seven goals are three behind Gibson and Sacramento's Gordy Gurson (ten).

DEFENSE RULES THE DAY

Don't look for Sockers-Legends to set scoring records. San Diego has the top defense through three games in the Major Arena Soccer League, allowing only ten goals in three contests (3.33 goals against per game). The Legends are the second stingiest team in the MASL, with just fourteen goals allowed in three games (4.67 per game). Note: Baltimore Blast has allowed only three goals this season, but they have played only two games.

SHOOTOUTS BACK TO NORMAL

The MASL on Friday, November 14th announced the end to their experimental rule assigning a shootout to every field penalty earning a blue card. The league has returned to the more familiar rule whereby shootouts are only awarded on last-man defensive situations, or when a goalkeeper leaves his crease to foul a field player.

OTHER MASL RULES CHANGES

While the shootout rule has gone back to the former PASL standard, other rules have changed for the MASL season:

- Instead of six team fouls triggering a power play, a field player who accrues four personal fouls in a half will lead to his team suffering a (non-shootout) power play penalty.

- No three-line passing is allowed.

- Slide tackling is allowed in the MASL but only of the ball. Any player contact is a blue card foul.

- The goalie can only handle the ball with his hands inside the boxed-off part of the crease, not the semi-circle.

- Substitution is still allowed in the flow of play, but is NOT allowed at dead balls/free kicks unless a timeout is called. A warning and then a blue card will be issued.

Overtime is now a 10-minute sudden death period, followed by a three-man shootout if necessary.

ROBERTO OUT FOR THURSDAY

Veteran defender Ze Roberto suffered an ankle injury against the Ontario Fury and has been ruled out for Thursday's contest against the Legends. Sockers head coach Phil Salvagio will name a replacement for Roberto during team warmups on Thursday.

BREAKOUT GAME FOR 'MATI'

22-year-old rookie Matias Kruger out of Argentina has earned selection in the Sockers' starting lineup for all three games this season. His best game so far came against Ontario, when Kruger combined with Nick Perera to create three straight goals, pushing a 2-1 lead to a 5-1 advantage. Kruger assisted twice on Perera's scores, with Perera returning the favor in between, assisting on Matias' first Sockers home goal and second overall. On the season 'Mati' Kruger has four points (two goals, two assists) in three games.

STILL HERE, STILL SCORING (A LOT)

With eyes focused on the new scoring talent in San Diego, it's easy to overlook the three-time league MVP doing his thing. Kraig Chiles has taken over responsibility as the team's captain in 2014, but continues to score at a high rate. With two more goals against Ontario, Chiles is one behind Nick Perera for the team lead in goals (six) and is second on the team in points (eight).

DIZZY ON A GOALS STREAK

Veteran defender Dan Antoniuk has played many years "up top" as a forward, both indoors and outdoors. As such, the thought of "Dizzy Dan" scoring in three straight games to start the season isn't unreasonable. How it's happened has been a bit, well, dizzier. After netting the rebound on a scrum around the net in San Diego's season opener against Vegas, Antoniuk rifled home a loose ball caroming off the side wall in Game Two against Seattle. Last game saw Antoniuk's centering attempt deflect off a defender from Ontario into the net. However they come, Dan joins Kraig Chiles as the only Sockers to score a goal in all three games so far this year.

SOCKERS ON THE RADIO AND WEB

Saturday'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. Aaron Susi joins Craig Elsten for all home broadcasts, which are simulcast on GLSC and ESPN Radio 1700.

CONTINUING THE DEFENSE/OFFENSE TREND

The Sockers are gifted with defenders who can also pinch up for a point when needed. Eduardo "El Vaquero" Velez, who has thrived both as a forward and a midfielder during his indoor career, transitioned to defender last season but is returning to his scoring ways in 2014-15, with six points (four goals, two assists) in three games. Evan McNeley is a key fixture in power play and set piece situations as a left-footer and has a pair of assists.

SOCKERS/LEGENDS: THE SERIES

In two seasons of competition the San Diego Sockers and Las Vegas Legends have made close games a habit. Their first-ever meeting, at the Orleans Arena on January 18th, 2013, saw a last-second goal by Brian Farber lead the Sockers to a 6-5 victory, their 47th consecutive win at the time. The two sides met again in the playoffs on March 10th, 2013, and this time Las Vegas scored with seven seconds left to force golden goal overtime, which Chiky Luna won for the Sockers on his famous scissor kick golden goal for another 6-5 San Diego win. In 2013-14, the one-goal games disappeared, with the Sockers beating Las Vegas 7-5 in Sin City, while Vegas knocked off San Diego 12-9 at the VVCC. The series culminated at Las Vegas Sports Park with a Legends' 11-7 playoff victory. This season, however, the two teams played OT in their first match, won by San Diego 5-4. Overall the Sockers are 3-1 against the Legends in the regular season and 1-1 in the playoffs; the Legends have scored 42 goals to the Sockers' 40.

LAST CHANCE TO SET THE DIVISION

For the expected Pacific Division contenders, parting will be such sweet sorrow. After this weekend the Sockers will not see the Legends or Ontario Fury until the final three games of the regular season in late February.

OPPONENT PROFILE: LAS VEGAS LEGENDS (1-2)

New head coach Doug Borgel has teamed with owner Meir Cohen to create a defensive-minded side in Las Vegas this season. Missing last year's captain and PASL assists leader Enrique Tovar (now in Turlock), the Legends have instead clamped down, allowing only 14 goals in three games. Goalkeeper Zeke Sanchez (.808 save percentage, 4.36 GAA) has the ability to make the bonus save in a close game. Top striker Ivan Campos leads the team with five goals and six points in three games. The Legends have struggled on offense with only thirteen goals. Past top performers Eric Guzman, Felipe Gonzalez and Ricardo Sobriera are all without a goal so far this year. The team added former Turlock defender Bronil Koochoie.

Check out the San Diego Sockers Statistics



Major Arena Soccer League Stories from November 20, 2014


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