San Diego Sockers Match Preview at Empire 3-5
MASL San Diego Sockers

San Diego Sockers Match Preview at Empire 3-5

Published on March 3, 2026 under Major Arena Soccer League (MASL)
San Diego Sockers News Release


OCEANSIDE, CA - The San Diego Sockers-presented by Kaiser Permanente-begin a two-match week with a trip up I-15 to take on the Empire Strykers at Toyota Arena on Thursday evening. The match is set for a 6:35pm PST start, and will be televised domestically on MASL+ and MASL TV (on YouTube), as well as supplemental coverage on the National Soccer Network and Victory+, and international coverage on Sportworld, Fox Sports Mexico, and the Unbeaten Network.

The Sockers (11-4-2, 33 points) are on a seven-match points streak (6-0-1), pushing to the top of an insanely tight Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) standings table. Five teams are between 30 and 33 standings points, with San Diego holding the first-place tiebreaker over St. Louis due to a league-best nine regulation wins. Milwaukee (11-6-2, 32 points) and Kansas City (10-5-3, 31 points) are within easy striking range, and the Baltimore Blast (10-6-2, 30 points) have won five straight matches to get within a win of the top spot. The Sockers' advantage is in matches-in-hand; with only 17 matches played, San Diego heads into the week with a match in hand over all contenders and two matches over St. Louis and Milwaukee.

Last week, San Diego overwhelmed the Tacoma Stars on Friday night 11-5 at Frontwave Arena, finishing the season series with a 4-1 advantage over Tacoma. Rallying from an early 2-0 deficit, the Sockers controlled the even quarters, outscoring the Stars 4-0 in both the second and fourth quarters. Sebastian Mendez paced the offense with two goals and three assists, while Nick Perera netted a hat trick with an assist. Goalkeeper Chris Toth returned from a broken finger to make his first start since December 12, stopping 13-of-18 shots to earn the win. Team captain Kraig Chiles had his best night of the season with a goal and two assists, while Jose "Bebe" Gonzalez had two goals and an assist.

The Sockers made a move at the MASL trade deadline, acquiring midfielder Nilton de Andrade from Utica City FC in exchange for Juan Salazar. Nilton has joined the club at training and is expected to make his Sockers debut on Thursday in Ontario. His presence will be welcomed in a midfield that is currently missing its top three playmakers due to injury or scheduled absence (Charlie Gonzalez, Leonardo de Oliveira, Gabriel Costa). Defender Cesar Cerda is working his way back from a lower-body injury and is considered questionable at the time of release for selection on Thursday.

Thursday's match concludes the contentious season series between the Sockers and Empire Strykers with the sixth and final pairing. Empire holds a 3-2 wins edge (7 points earned) over San Diego in the series, while the Sockers are 2-1-2 (8 points earned) thanks to a pair of overtime home losses. Empire's Mounir Alami has stung San Diego twice with golden goals this season, winning the season opener 5-4 with a header on November 28, and their most recent March 15 matchup by an identical 5-4 score on a goal-mouth tap-in. The Strykers also ran away from the Sockers 9-5 in their most Toyota Arena meeting on January 22. San Diego prevailed 6-3 on December 12 in Ontario, and 4-3 at home on January 3. The Sockers are 49-12 all-time against the Strykers/Fury.

The Strykers (8-9-1, 23 points, 18 matches played) are in the sixth-and-final playoff spot in the MASL table, threatened from below by Tacoma (20 points, 17 matches played). Empire heads to St. Louis on Friday and will take on the Ambush on Saturday night at Family Arena. Alami leads the Strykers with 14 goals, while Justin Stinson paces the offense with (12-12=24) points. Struggling all season offensively, Empire recently traded for forward Barbaro Shelier from UCFC (three assists in three matches) and signed midfielder Zakhar Shkidchenko (two goals in two matches). Empire traded goalkeeper Claysson de Lima to Tacoma, locking in Brian Orozco (5.26 GAA, .677 SV%, 3-4=7 points) as the ambulating starter in head coach Onua Obasi's system, which frequently sends the keeper out of the net. Brandon Gomez (5.44 GAA, .612 SV%) is the backup but has seen 200+ minutes of action.

Check out the San Diego Sockers Statistics

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