San Diego Sockers Game Notes vs. Seattle
December 13, 2014 - Major Arena Soccer League (MASL)
San Diego Sockers News Release
Seattle Impact FC (3-2) vs. San Diego Sockers (5-1)
DATE: Saturday, December 13th, 2014
PLACE: Valley View Casino Center
TIME: 7:05pm PST
0 ESPN Radio 1700-AM (radio)
GoLiveSportsCast (video)
PLEASE CHECK MASLSOCCER.COM FOR UP-TO-DATE STANDINGS
SOCKERS CONCLUDE HOMESTAND WITH SEATTLE
The San Diego Sockers (5-1) conclude the home-heavy early portion of their 2014-15 MASL schedule as they play host to the expansion Seattle Impact FC. The Sockers will play two road games to close out 2014 in Missouri and St. Louis after the Christmas holiday. This is the second of four meetings with Seattle (3-2). San Diego won 14-4 in the Impact's first game of the season on November 8th. The Impact have won three straight, beating Sacramento twice and Turlock once.
LAST GAME: SOCKERS 5, TURLOCK 4
The Sockers needed a big save from Chris Toth in the game's final twenty seconds to hold off the hungry Turlock Express 5-4 on December 6th. San Diego (5-1) scored four times in the second quarter to build a 5-2 lead over the Express, then were held scoreless in the second half for the first time in PASL/MASL franchise history. Kraig Chiles scored for the sixth straight game, one of five different Sockers to find the back of the net. Toth made sixteen saves for the win (4-1) including a critical save on Enrique Tovar's free kick with :21 left in the fourth quarter.
PERERA SECOND IN POINTS WITH GAME IN HAND
In his first year back with the San Diego Sockers after three seasons with Milwaukee Wave, Nick Perera is cementing his status as a top target forward in the game of indoor soccer. With two assists against Turlock last Saturday, Perera extended his score line to 22 points (9 goals, 13 assists) in six games. Nick (U.S. Beach Soccer National Team captain) trails Missouri's Leo Gibson (17/14/31) by nine points but has played one fewer game than Gibson. While a nine-point effort tonight seems unlikely, Perera's career-best came against Seattle in November, scoring four goals with two assists.
TOTH EXCELS AS LAST LINE OF DEFENSE
The Sockers needed every one of Chris Toth's sixteen saves to defeat Turlock in San Diego's last game. The rock-solid performance continues a tremendous start to the 25-year-old's career in net for the Sockers. In his second full season as starter Toth's 3.98 goals-against average (GAA) ranks third in the MASL, and his .756 save percentage ranks fifth overall in the MASL and third among starters with five or more games played. Toth is 31-4 all-time in goal for the Sockers in regular season play.
TWO BRAZILIANS AVAILABLE TONIGHT
The Sockers welcomed two new players to training over the past two weeks, as Mardney Almeida "Ney" Felix and Gustavo Machado "Guto" Quieroga earned their work visas and were able to make the trip from Brazil to the United States. Ney, in his second week with the club, was not selected last week but is expected to make his debut this evening. Guto has trained with the team twice. Both Guto and Ney are first-division professional futsal players from Brazil.
HOME IS WHERE THE GOALS AREN'T (FOR YOU)
The Sockers have yet to allow more than five goals in a home game this season, a big part of the reason why they are 4-0 at the Valley View Casino Center. With twelve total goals allowed in four home games (3.0 per game), the Sockers are second only to Baltimore (1.75 goals against per game) in home defense.
FARBER OUT AGAIN
All-league midfielder Brian Farber will miss his second straight game with a knee injury. Brian aggravated a nagging injury against Las Vegas on November 23rd. Farber is targeting a possible return for the Sockers' road trip to Missouri and Kansas City at the end of the month.
KRAIG CHILES IS "K"APTAIN "C"ONSISTENCY
Taking over for the retired Aaron Susi as the Sockers' team captain in 2014-15, Kraig Chiles has made consistency his hallmark so far this season. Chiles is the only Socker to score a goal in all six games, and his nine goals are tied with Nick Perera for the team lead. On the season Chiles is second on the team with 13 points (nine goals, four assists).
ROOKIE KRUGER ADDS ARGENTINE FLAIR
Only 22 years old, Argentine rookie Matias Kruger has been developing into a force on the field week by week. Kruger picked up an assist against Turlock in the Sockers' 5-4 victory last week. "Mati" saw a four-game goal scoring streak come to an end against the Express, but still ranks third on the team in goals (five) and fourth in points (eight). Kruger joined the Sockers after spending five seasons on Argentina's National Futsal Team.
EL VAQUERO SCORES HAT TRICK
The Velez family grew by one earlier this week when Eduardo Velez's wife Griselda gave birth to the family's first boy and third child overall. If tonight gives Eddie a "baby boost" in the stats it's bad news for Seattle. Velez is already third on the Sockers in points (nine) and tied for second in goals (five).
HUGHES CONTINUES RESURGENT SEASON
After struggling throughout the 2013-14 campaign with injury, Jeff Hughes is getting back to the form that earned his reputation as a force in the game of indoor soccer. With a goal in last week's 5-4 win over Turlock, the former PASL MVP now has four goals and six points in six games. Last season saw Hughes score only eight goals in the full season.
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 and is on the trip for radio commentary Sunday afternoon in Las Vegas as well.
SPECIAL TEAMS STRUGGLES CONTINUE
For the second straight season the Sockers find themselves failing to establish much consistency on the power play. An 0-for-2 effort against Turlock dropped San Diego to 5-for-15 on the season with a man advantage (33%), tied for 13th in the 23-team MASL for efficiency. Among teams with 15 or more power play attempts, only Chicago (5-for-16) has done less with more than the Sockers. San Diego's penalty killing unit has been equally poor. The Sockers have allowed goals on 50% of power plays against (10-of-20), tied for 19th in the league.
LUNA FINDS THE NET
Sockers veteran midfielder Chiky Luna is finding his legs as the season moves along, scoring his first goal of the season in San Diego's 5-4 victory over the Express last weekend. A primary player on power plays and free kicks, Luna has one goal and four assists in six games this season.
MASL NOTES
- The Sockers released the rights to Jonatan Santos to make room for Guto on the 20-man roster.
- A 6-5 Turlock victory over Las Vegas on Friday night pushed the Legends (2-5) into a tie for the MASL lead in losses. Only Brownsville (1-6) has reached the six-loss mark.
- San Diego faces their biggest test of the season after Christmas when they travel to face the undefeated Missouri Comets (7-0). The Comets are +53 in goal differential through seven games and their 89 goals are 49 ahead of any other MASL team with seven games played.
OPPONENT PROFILE: SEATTLE IMPACT FC (3-2)
The surprising expansion Impact have won three in a row since their team roster was dismantled following a group walkout over the practices of coach/owner/CEO/player Dion Earl. Only six players remain from the roster submitted for Opening Day, but one of the six is forward Gordy Gurson, who is tied for the MASL goals lead with 17 (Gibson-MIS, Totti-TEX). Goalkeeper Piotr Sliwa has started all five games in goal and is 3-2 with an 8.20 GAA. Corey Maret has six points (3/3/6) and no other Impact player has more than three points on the season.
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