San Diego Sockers Game Notes vs. Ontario Fury
November 15, 2014 - Major Arena Soccer League (MASL)
San Diego Sockers News Release
Ontario Fury (1-1) at San Diego Sockers (2-0)
DATE: Sunday, November 16th, 2014
PLACE: Valley View Casino Center
TIME: 5:05pm PST
0 ESPN Radio 1700-AM (radio)
GoLiveSportscast.com (video)
PLEASE VISIT MASLSOCCER.COM FOR UP-TO-DATE STANDINGS
BUSY WEEK BEGINS WITH SOCKERS-FURY
The San Diego Sockers open a Pacific Division run of three games in eight days, starting with the first of three meetings this season between the Sockers and Ontario Fury. San Diego will then play a home-and-home series against Las Vegas Legends, beginning Thursday, November 20th at home and continuing on Sunday, November 23rd at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. The Sockers went 4-0 against the Fury last year in Ontario's expansion season.
LAST GAME: SOCKERS 14, SEATTLE 4
The Sockers offered the Seattle Impact FC a harsh welcome to the Major Arena Soccer League, racing to a 9-2 lead at halftime before polishing off the Impact 14-4 after full time from ShoWare Center in Seattle. Nick Perera powered the Sockers offense with four goals and two assists, while captain Kraig Chiles added a hat trick with an assist. Jesus Molina picked up the win in his first start at goalkeeper for the Sockers.
PERERA POPS ON THE POST
Nick Perera had big shoes to fill coming back to the Sockers after three seasons with the Milwaukee Wave, replacing five-year captain Aaron Susi as the team's target forward. Through two games, the 28-year-old has shown why he may be a presence in the Sockers' attack for years to come. After recording three assists in San Diego's season opening win over Vegas, Perera came back with his best scoring performance as a Socker, four goals and two assists. On the season Perera leads the Sockers with nine points (four goals, five assists) in two games.
MERC READY FOR RETURN
Veteran defender Mike Mercuriali returned to training the past two weeks and is ready to be selected as a starter against Ontario. Mercuriali missed the start of season with a skin issue.
MASL CHANGES SHOOTOUT RULE
The Major Arena Soccer League announced a rules change on Friday, eliminating the experimental shootout rule. Blue card penalties now will result in a two-minute power play but not an automatic shootout. Shootouts will only be rewarded on last-man-in defensive situations or when the goalkeeper comes out of his zone to take out a player. As such, shootouts are back to the same rule fans of the PASL once knew.
OTHER MASL RULES CHANGES
- 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.
VELEZ CONTINUES HOT START
Eduardo "El Vaquero" Velez has started off the 2014-15 season recalling his high-scoring days in Tijuana. Following a two goal game in San Diego's 5-4 overtime win against Las Vegas, Eduardo found the back of the net twice again against Seattle, adding a pair of assists. With six points in two games, Velez is tied with Kraig Chiles for second on the Sockers in scoring. Velez led the PASL with 52 points in 2010-11 as a member of Revolucion Tijuana but slipped to 16 points last season as he adjusted to a move to defender.
CHILES TRICKS THE IMPACT
The all-time scorer in the PASL now has his first MASL hat trick. Kraig Chiles scored three goals with an assist in San Diego's 14-4 win over the Seattle Impact last Saturday, improving to six points (four goals, two assists) in the first two games. The hat trick was Chiles' 36th game with three or more goals in his five-year career plus two games.
ROOKIE KRUGER NETS FIRST GOAL
22-year-old rookie Matias Kruger out of Argentina has impressed during training and brought those talents to the pitch in San Diego's 14-4 win over Seattle, scoring his first goal in the United States as a MASL pro. Kruger played for Argentina's National Futsal Team since he was 16 and was discovered by the Sockers' Kraig Chiles when his U.S. National Futsal Team trained in Buenos Aires this summer.
DEFENDERS STEPPING UP ON OFFENSE
The Sockers' defensive corps is a versatile group, including several players who have a scorer's touch. Returning veteran Dan Antoniuk has already scored a goal in each of the Sockers' first two contests, while second-year Socker Evan McNeley has an assist in both games. Ze Roberto added his first goal of the season against Seattle as well.
BRAZILIANS ON THE WAY
In addition to Matias Kruger, the Sockers have come to terms with a pair of young players from Brazil, Mardney Almeida Felix (known as "Ney") and Gustavo Machado Queiroga (known as "Guto"). Ney and Guto, along with defender Jonatan Santos, are expected to join the Sockers as the season progresses. UPDATE: Guto's visa has been approved and he is expected to join the Sockers in early December.
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.
MVP TRIO RETURNS TO SAN DIEGO
The stars are once again aligned for the San Diego Sockers, as the franchise boasts three different PASL MVPs on their roster once again in 2014-15. For the second straight season, three-time PASL MVP Kraig Chiles (2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13) will be joined by 2008-09 PASL MVP Brian Farber and 2009-10 PASL MVP Jeff Hughes in the Sockers starting lineup. Hughes in particular is looking to show San Diego fans his true mettle after struggling through a 16-point season while dealing with knee troubles in 2013-14. Chiles was the first player in PASL history to record three consecutive seasons of 60+ points, while Farber is a two-time all-PASL performer who is second in league history in goals (140) and points (226), trailing only Chiles. Chiles' six points are tied for second on the Sockers, while Hughes added a goal and assist in San Diego's 14-4 win over Seattle.
SOCKERS KEEPERS EACH HAVE A WIN
The Sockers boast two of the better keepers in the game of indoor soccer on the same roster, and both have debuted with a win this season. 25-year-old Chris Toth got the season started with eleven saves in a 5-4 OT win against Las Vegas Legends. Backing up Toth this season is veteran keeper Jesus "Chuy" Molina, who won a PASL title with the Stockton Cougars in 2008-09. Molina made his first Sockers start in Seattle and was rarely challenged, making four save to pick up his first win for San Diego. Toth is expected to get the start on Sunday against Ontario.
OPPONENT PROFILE: ONTARIO FURY (1-1)
The Fury begin a four-game road trip against the Sockers on Sunday night. They will continue to Syracuse and Rochester, becoming the first Pacific Division team to play under multi-point scoring (MPS), before finishing their sojurn December 2 nd in Las Vegas. Ontario opened the season with a 7-5 home loss to the Monterrey Flash before rebounding with a 12-7 win over the Sacramento Surge, also at Citizen Business Bank Arena. A big change for the Fury is in goal, where Ontario has acquired former Hidalgo goalkeeper Alexis Apodaca. In his Ontario debut Apodaca set the team record for saves, making 24 stops in the defeat. Another new addition, defender Stephen Basso, leads the team with six points (three goals, three assists). Forward Tino Nunez is a U.S. National Arena Team striker and has a goal with three assists so far this year. Midfielder Tiguinho is a consistent presence with four points (two goals, two assists). Bernie Lilavois is the Fury head coach.
• Discuss this story on the Major Arena Soccer League message board...
Major Arena Soccer League Stories from November 15, 2014
- Comets come back and defeat the Milwaukee Wave 9-7 in Home Opener - Kansas City Comets
- Dallas Sidekicks Fillet Barracudas 14-2, Moojen Scores Hat Trick in Debut - Dallas Sidekicks
- San Diego Sockers Game Notes vs. Ontario 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.
