San Diego Sockers Match Preview at Tacoma
MASL San Diego Sockers

San Diego Sockers Match Preview at Tacoma

Published on February 19, 2026 under Major Arena Soccer League (MASL)
San Diego Sockers News Release


The San Diego Sockers-presented by Kaiser Permanente-travel back to the Pacific Northwest to take on the Tacoma Stars on Saturday night at the accesso ShoWare Center in Kent, Washington. The match is set for a 6:05pm PST kickoff 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 (9-4-2, 27 points) are on a five-match points streak (4-0-1), and sit within striking range of the top spot in the Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) standings table. Milwaukee currently is in first place with 30 points and 16 matches played, one more than the 15 played by San Diego. Kansas City sits between the Sockers and Wave with 28 points and 17 matches played. This weekend, Milwaukee plays twice (at Baltimore, vs St. Louis) and Kansas City once (vs Utica).

San Diego is hoping for a moment of stability in a tumultuous season that has rarely given the club a chance to get their legs firmly underneath them. Since the first weekend of January, the Sockers have had four multi-match weekends requiring long travel (airplane or 8-hour bus ride) in between the two matches, including last weekend's Saturday game in Kansas City and Sunday afternoon game at home against Empire. The Sockers have suffered through an unprecedented wave of injuries that at times have knocked as many as twelve players off the available roster and continue to impact critical areas of the team. The next two weekends only have the Sockers playing a single match, and while the first week of March sees San Diego play twice, they will have two days between matches and only travel two hours up the highway to Ontario. The club is hopeful that these three weeks of relative calm will steel the roster for the final stretch, which involves two more weekends of Kansas City-San Diego back-to-back travel action.

Last weekend's flurry of travel and play unsurprisingly saw San Diego drop three points, although the manner in which it happened was unlikely. First, the Sockers rallied from a second-half three-goal deficit to take a 6-5 lead at Kansas City, only for the Comets to score an equalizer with two seconds remaining in regulation. The match went through golden goal overtime to a shootout, where San Diego prevailed 2-1 in the fourth round, taking the 7-6 victory and two points. Charlie Gonzalez assisted on both of the Sockers' last two goals and then netted the shootout winner in the fourth round. The next day, following an arduous morning's travel, a leg-weary Sockers team fell behind 4-2 to Empire, rallying with two goals in the 57th minute to force a 4-4 tie. It looked like a second straight match would see a shootout, but with 28 seconds remaining in golden goal overtime, the Strykers stole a midfield pass and took it down the floor for a goal-wall pass, which was tapped home by Mounir Alami for his second goal of the match and the golden goal game-winner. San Diego earned 1-of-3 standings points for the overtime loss.

Saturday marks the fourth of five meetings between the Stars and the Sockers, and the second-and-final trip up to Washington state. The Sockers are 2-1 against Tacoma, while the Stars are 1-1-1. San Diego shut out Tacoma 8-0 in the initial pairing on December 30 at Frontwave Arena. The Stars answered back with a 5-4 regulation win at ShoWare Center on January 4, a day when San Diego played the night prior and flew to Washington the morning of the match. On February 1, an injury-riddled Sockers team missing twelve players was pushed to overtime by Tacoma before winning 7-6 on Sebastian Mendez's golden goal. The two clubs will meet a fifth and final time next Friday, February 27 at Frontwave Arena on the Sockers' annual Star Wars Night. The Sockers lead the all-time modern series 42-6.

The Stars (7-6-1, 20 points) are very much still in the fight for a Ron Newman Cup playoff spot, although the club has faded from a 4-1 start, going 3-5-1 over their past nine matches. Tacoma's 7-2 at the accesso ShoWare Center, and every single match has been close: the Stars have played seven one-goal games and two two-goal games at home, while they have been blown out on the road by a 16-42 goal differential (-26). Tacoma's offense ranks last in the MASL with 4.9 goals-per-match. Veteran Jamael "Juice" Cox leads the Stars with (10-7=17) points. Luis Birrueta is 6-5-1 in net with a 5.49 GAA and .695 SV%.

NEWS & NOTES

Gonzalez Injured The entire Sockers organization held its breath when top scorer Charlie Gonzalez collapsed over the top of a Strykers player in sudden-death overtime on Sunday, forcing him to be evacuated to the hospital for examination. Fears of a major leg or ankle injury were tempered when X-rays revealed no breaks for Charlie, and MRI exams revealed a severely sprained ankle but no injury that would require season-ending surgery. Gonzalez will miss 4-8 weeks but is targeting a return in time for the MASL playoffs. Charlie leads the Sockers with twelve goals and ranks sixth in the league with 1.8 points-per-match.

Morgan Suspended Sockers forward Tavoy Morgan was shown a red card in the third quarter of last Saturday night's match at Kansas City, after head-butting a Comets player. Morgan was automatically suspended for the next match against Empire, and the MASL subsequently added three more games for a total of four-match suspension, carrying through the March 5 match at Empire. He will be eligible to return on March 8 at home against Baltimore. Morgan was also fined an undisclosed amount by the league for failing to leave the field in a timely manner following his red card.

Costa Absent (Excused) Midfielder Gabriel Costa has left the Sockers on an excused absence for the second time this season. Costa is participating in Kings League-Brazil in his home country. The fourth-year midfielder potentially could return in time for the end of the regular season and the Ron Newman Cup playoffs, depending on how far his Kings League club advances. The combination of Costa's absence and Gonzalez's injury has left San Diego without its top two playmaking midfielders.

Hurting in the Back Two key Sockers defenders are out with injury and will not travel to Tacoma. Stalwart on-ball defender Mitchell Cardenas exacerbated a groin injury in the club's 7-6 overtime win at Kansas City and missed the following match against Empire; his absence will extend another week at least. In addition, Luis "Peewee" Ortega is out with a hamstring cramp suffered in Kansas City. Ben Ramin and Jose "Bebe" Gonzalez will take their positions in the lineup. Also of note, defender Drew Ruggles is sitting on six penalty points (two blue cards, four yellows), meaning the next card he is shown will result in an automatic one-match suspension.

Toth Returns Sockers goalkeeper-and five-time MASL Goalkeeper of the Year-Chris Toth has been out of the lineup since starting on December 12, a 6-3 win at Empire. In the weeks following, Toth suffered a broken finger at practice, which has kept him out of the past twelve matches. This week, Chris was medically cleared to return to play, and he is on the trip to Tacoma. Head coach Phil Salvagio will choose a starter between Toth and Boris Pardo before game time.

Pardo Held Down the Fort While Toth recovered from a broken finger, MASL record-setting goalkeeper Boris Pardo proved yet again why he's one of the best to ever play the position. The 41-year-old was expected to split time with Toth but instead has played in eleven matches in a row, starting ten. The set began with Pardo's first career regular season shutout, a ten-save affair in an 8-0 win over Tacoma on December 30. During the stretch, Boris recorded four different matches with save percentages over .750. Pardo is the league's all-time leader in starts (194) and wins (146), second all-time in saves (2,117), and in the current season ranks second in the league in save percentage (.722) and third in goals-against average (5.26). He sat last Sunday's match (rest) in favor of rookie Nathanael Linquist.

Milestones Accomplished, Milestones Upcoming A veteran-laden Sockers team is making its mark in the MASL all-time records book. Here are the milestones achieved and upcoming:

=Nick Perera became the third player to achieve 500 points in his MASL career on February 1 with a five-point game (two goals, three assists) against his former club, Tacoma. In his career, Perera is the league's all-time leading assist man (256), ranks fourth in goals (249), and third all-time in points (249-256=505)

-Midfielder Leonardo de Oliveira earned his 200th career assist on January 24 at Baltimore. He's the fourth player in league history with 200+ assists (Perera 256, Leo Gibson 225, Max Ferdinand 215, Leo 203)

-Goalkeeper Boris Pardo took over the all-time MASL starts record from his teammate Chris Toth (196) and moved past the 2,000-career save mark (2nd all-time, 2,117) while extending his MASL record for wins (146)

-Defender Luis "Peewee" Ortega is two points away from 100 in his career (40-58=98), as is defender/midfielder Jesus Pacheco (58-40=98).

-Defender Mitchell Cardenas is seven blocked shots away from 200 in his career (193), Drew Ruggles is 17 blocks from 200 (183).

-Ruggles scored his 100th MASL goal at Milwaukee on January 17...the league's all-time penalty minutes leader (198) is two away from 200 for his career

-Head coach Phil Salvagio is four wins away from 200 in his MASL career (196-45-7 record); his all-time Sockers coaching record, including the PASL, is 266-54-7

Check out the San Diego Sockers Statistics

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Major Arena Soccer League Stories from February 19, 2026


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