San Diego Sockers Match Preview at St. Louis
MASL San Diego Sockers

San Diego Sockers Match Preview at St. Louis

Published on March 6, 2025 under Major Arena Soccer League (MASL)
San Diego Sockers News Release


The San Diego Sockers (15-3-0, 42, 2nd), presented by Kaiser Permanente, begin a two-game Midwest road trip against the St. Louis Ambush (6-10-1, 18, 9th) on Friday, March 5, 5:05pm at The Family Arena in St. Charles, MO. The Ambush is the only MASL team that the Sockers have a losing record (2-3) against all time. San Diego, which got its first-ever road win in St. Louis on February 8, has found a rhythm on offense, and the defense is playing much better than the last time the squads met in Missouri. Tavoy Morgan (22-5) and Charlie Gonzalez (10-17) are leading the team in scoring with 27 points each. Morgan is on 6-game goal streak and has a 15-game point streak, while Gonzalez has scored a point in 15 of his last 16 matches. Boris Pardo has regained his MVP goalkeeping form with an 11-2-0 record and a 4.50 GAA. St. Louis has gained momentum as of late in trying to make the playoffs. They are powered by Lucas Almeida (5-15 ), who has a goal and five assists in his last three games. San Diego is currently in second place and is in a battle with Chihuahua (46 pts/20 GP) and Kansas City (41/17) for the top seed in the MASL Playoffs.

SAN DIEGO SOCKERS

Head Coach: Phil Salvagio

Last Four: W W W W

Streak: W4

Away Record: 5-3-0

Leading Scorer: Gonzalez & Morgan, 27

Leading GK: Pardo, 11-2-0, 4.50

Goals Avg: For: 6.2 / Agst: 4.6

Goal Differential: +27

Expected Goals: 6.4

Power Play%: 53%

Penalty Kill %: 64%

Last Match: 3/5, vEMP, 7-6, W

ST. LOUIS AMBUSH

Head Coach: Jeff Locker

Last Four: W W L L

Streak: W2

Home Record: 4-4-1

Leading Scorer: Almeida,5-15

Leading GK: Cortes, 5-2-1, 5.79

Goals Avg: For: 5.6 / Agst: 6.6

Goal Differential: -18

Expected Goals: 5.1

Power Play%: 36%

Penalty Kill %: 78%

Last Match: 3/2, vDAL, 9-2, W

KEY PLAYERS

San Diego:

Kraig Chiles: The veteran captain is having another solid campaign with 21 points (15-6=21) and has a goal in 8 of his last 9 matches. He remains dangerous on set-pieces and is still a creative playmaker.

Gabriel Costa: A key attacker, Costa has 20 points (8-12) on the season and is fourth on the team in scoring.

Drew Ruggles: Has added some offensive flair to his strong defensive play. He has seven goals this season.

St. Louis:

William Eskay: Four goals and one assist in the last three games played.

Duduca Carvalho: Four goals and two assists in his last three games. Working on a six-game points streak.

James Thomas: Six goals in the last three games played. Working on a three-game scoring and points streak.

STRATEGIES

San Diego:

Continue Scoring Goals: San Diego is averaging over six goals per game and has scored 25 goals in the past four matches. The balanced attack has kept opponents from keying on one or two players.

Defense, Defense, Defense: The Sockers, who aim to keep teams at three goals per game, employ a high-pressing defense to disrupt their opponents' build-up play. The defenders are adept at intercepting passes and launching counter-attacks to set up the offense. Keeping the defense solid in front of Pardo will be key in the club's run to the playoffs.

Don't Look Past Ambush: In what is set up as a trap game, the Sockers must not look ahead to Sunday's crucial match against Kansas City and stay focused on the game at hand against St. Louis.

St. Louis:

Score Early: If St. Louis can score early, they might be able to force the Sockers out of their game plan

Mistakes: Limit Them And Take Advantage: The Ambush must eliminate mistakes and turnovers to keep the Sockers at bay. On the flipside, they must punish San Diego for their mistakes to keep them in the match.

Goalkeeping: The Ambush goalkeepers are good enough to run hot and quiet San Diego's offense.

FORM

San Diego: The Sockers have won 15 of their last 17 games.

St. Louis: The Ambush have won two games in a row and are 3-2 in their last five contests.

SOCKERS LAST TIME OUT // vs EMPIRE, 7-6 WIN, MARCH 5, 2025

Leonardo De Oliveira's (1-3=4) four-point night, along with two goals from both Gabriel Costa and Tavoy Morgan led the San Diego Sockers (15-3-0, 42 pts, 2nd) to an important 7-6 decision over the Empire Strykers (10-9-1, 30, 5th) before 2,126 at Frontwave Arena on March 5.

AMBUSH LAST TIME OUT // vs DALLAS, 9-2 WIN, MARCH 2, 2025

The St. Louis Ambush won their second consecutive game when they handed the visiting Dallas Sidekicks a 9-2 loss Sunday at The Family Arena. The win improved the Ambush to 6-10-1 on the season, while Dallas dropped to 5-14-0. It marked the second win on the weekend for the Ambush, who snuck by Utica City FC 9-8 on Friday at The Family Arena.

LET'S GO STREAKING - TEAM

Sockers have won 15 of 17 games...have won 10 straight home games...have won 5 of the last 7 away games...have scored 4 or more goals in 18 consecutive games...have scored 3 or more goals in 18 straight games...have allowed 3 or more goals in 17 of last 18 games...have a power-play opportunity in 16 of last 18 games...have a penalty-kill opportunity in 8 consecutive games

LET'S GO STREAKING - INDIVIDUAL

Morgan has a 6-game goal streak...Morgan has a 15-game point streak...Morales has a 2-game goal streak...Morales has a 6-game point streak...Chiles has a goal in 8 of 9 games...Chiles has points in 8 of 9 games...De Oliveira has a point in 5 of his last 6 games...Ramin has a point in 2 of last 3 games...Cerda has a point in 2 of 3 games...Gonzalez C has a point in 15 of the last 16 games...Costa has a point in 12 of the last 15 games...Mendez has a point in 8 of the last 11 games...Ruggles has a point in 6 of the last 9 games...Gutierrez has a point in 1 game...Pardo has won 11 of his last 13 games...Snaer-Williams has won 4 of last 5 games and 2 of 3 straight that he has started

MASL MILESTONES WITHIN REACH (Complete List On The Next Page)

Cesar Cerda, 200 Games Played, 2; Cesar Cerda, 100 Assists, 3

SOCKERS UNVEIL NEW NAVY BLUE TURF

As part of the preparations for hosting the MASL Ron Newman Cup Playoffs, the Sockers and Frontwave Arena unveiled their new navy blue turf on February 16 vs Chihuahua. The turf features the Sockers script logo in white in the center circle. Both goal boxes are white with a FAN CLB, a team partner, logo in black. Click for photos.

THREE PLAYERS REACH MASL MILESTONES IN THE SAME GAME

Gabriel Costa, Tavoy Morgan, and Drew Ruggles reached milestones during the February 16 match vs. Chihuahua. Morgan hit the 150-career goal mark. Ruggles reached the 150-career point mark. Costa tallied his 50th assist.

PARDO REACHES MASL GK MILESTONE - 10,000 GK MINUTES PLAYED

Boris Pardo became the first goalkeeper in MASL history to play 10,000 minutes. He achieved the accomplishment on 1/17 vs. Texas at 3:36 of the third quarter. He would leave the game after playing 37:01 and making seven saves on 10 shots.

MORGAN HITS 200 CAREER POINTS

Tavoy Morgan scored his 200th career point with a goal on January 5 against the Chihuahua Savage.

LEO REACHES 300 CAREER POINTS

Leo DeOliveira hit the 300 career point mark on January 20 with an assist on Gontán's first-period goal vs. Empire.

CERDA, COSTA & MORALES NAMED MASL ALL-STARS

Cesar Cerda, Gabriel Costa, and Luiz Morales were named to the MASL All-Star Game, which was played on 2/12 in Utica, NY. However, the trio did not participate due to travel to Chihuahua for the 2/14 match.

SOCKERS 2023/24 SEASON REVIEW

The Sockers had a strong 2023/24 season, finishing with an impressive record of 18 wins, 5 losses, and 1 overtime loss, securing 52 points, and clinching the Western Division regular-season title. This performance highlighted their dominance in the league, continuing their legacy as one of the most successful teams in history.

THREE DOT NOTES...

Chiles tallied a shootout goal on 3/1 at Tacoma and had two shootout attempts (1/2) on 1/15 vs KC...Christian Gutierrez (200) and Gabriel Costa (50) reached career games played milestones on 3/1 vs MWE...Acquired All-Star defender Kristian Quintana in a trade with Dallas on 2/27...Cerda was named Defensive Player of the Week, Week 12, 5 Blocks...Chiles and Morgan have two hat tricks this season...The Sockers are 1/3 on PK's (Chiles 2/16 (goal), Gonzalez C 2/8 & Chiles 2/2)...had a 10-game winning streak from 12/14-2/7...The Sockers have scored two shorthanded goals this season, while allowing two...The Sockers had two hat tricks in the same game vs TEX on 1/25 (Chiles & Mendez)...Eddie Velez made his season debut on 2/7 at KC...Travis Pittman and Eli Zamora made their season debuts on 1/17 vs Texas...Seven players, the most this season, had an assist at Tacoma on 1/10...San Diego has six hat tricks this season (Mendez 1/25, Chiles 1/25, Morgan 1/17 & 1/5, Ruggles 1/10 & Morales 12/4)...The Sockers are averaging 3,095 fans at Frontwave Arena (1,587 last year in their final season at Pechanga Arena)...Pardo earned MASL GK of the Week honors for week 8...Snaer-Williams earned MASL GK of the Week honors for week 5...Sebastian Mendez notched his first point as a Socker with an assist against Tacoma on 12/10...Former Sockers Emmanuel Aquirre, Gerardo Jurado, and Andy Reyes return to San Diego to face their old teammates...The crowd of 4,508 on 12/14/24 (home opener) was the largest ever to watch a soccer match at Frontwave Arena and the second highest in history behind the SD Clippers G-League game with a sellout of 5,500 on 2/8...The season-opening loss in Tacoma was the first since 1/29/21 at Kansas City...During the off-season. the Sockers acquired M Sebastian Mendez and F Luiz Morales from Texas...Returning to San Diego are F Taylor Bond (UCFC), M Travis Pittman (Free Agent), and D Ben Ramin (Milwaukee)...Other free agent signings include Spanish international M/F Keko Gontán and D Eli Zamora...Brandon Escoto is away from the team due to immigration issues, but is playing with the Sockers2. He can play in any Sockers games in Mexico.

Check out the San Diego Sockers Statistics

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Major Arena Soccer League Stories from March 6, 2025


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