San Diego Sockers Match Preview vs Empire 4:00pm
Published on February 15, 2026 under Major Arena Soccer League (MASL)
San Diego Sockers News Release
OCEANSIDE, CA - The Sockers return home for a challenging Presidents' Day Weekend back-to-back, taking on the Empire Strykers on Sunday afternoon at Frontwave Arena in Oceanside. The match is set for a 4:00pm PST kickoff, and will be televised domestically on Fox Soccer Plus, 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 (9-4-1, 26 points) are riding a four-match winning streak which has pushed them within range of the top spot in the Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) standings table. The Kansas City Comets are currently in first place with 28 points, and the Milwaukee Wave is in second with 27 points, although San Diego has three matches in hand on Kansas City. Milwaukee will play at Tacoma on Sunday night, and a Milwaukee regulation or overtime loss combined with a San Diego regulation win would put the Sockers at the top of the table.
San Diego will be battling both the Strykers and fatigue on Sunday afternoon, as the MASL schedule has forced the club into a difficult position. After playing and beating Kansas City in an overtime shootout on Saturday night, the Sockers had to board a pre-dawn flight out of Missouri on Sunday morning, with a quick layover and transfer in Denver. The club is scheduled to land at Lindbergh Field at 10:00am before the 4:00pm kickoff in Oceanside. Empire has not played all week and will be fresh and waiting, with a chance to practice on the Sockers' home field on Sunday morning.
While the Sockers will be bone tired, they will also have the pleasant memory of coming out ahead in an epic contest against the Kansas City Comets on Saturday night. In front of a crowd of almost 4,000 at Cable Dahmer Arena, San Diego emerged with a comeback 7-6 victory in an overtime shootout. The Sockers fell behind 5-2 midway through the third quarter before rallying with four straight goals to take a 6-5 lead with 3:10 remaining in the fourth. Kansas City scored a dramatic equalizer from Dominic Francis with just two seconds left on the clock to force overtime, and after a spirited but scoreless ten-minute golden goal period, the match went to a three-round shootout. Tied 1-1 after three rounds, the Sockers won in the fourth round of shootouts as Boris Pardo (18-of-24 saves, 3-of-4 shootout) stopped Nacho Flores' shot with his face, and Charlie Gonzalez scored past KC keeper Phillip Ejimadu for the match winner.
Sunday is the fifth of six meetings between the Sockers and the Empire Strykers. The clubs are 2-2 against one another in the 2025-26 season, with each team winning once at home and once away. The matches in San Diego have been tense and close, with Empire pulling out a 5-4 (OT) win in the season opener, and the Sockers responding with a 4-3 regulation win on January 3. The matches at Toyota Arena have been more decisive, with San Diego winning 6-3 on December 12, and the Strykers posting a 9-5 win on January 22. The clubs will meet a sixth and final time on March 5 in Ontario. San Diego's overall mark against Empire/Ontario stands at 49-11.
The Strykers (5-9, 14 points) have lost three in a row and sit just outside of playoff position in the MASL table, resting in seventh place, three points behind sixth-place Baltimore. The Blast play at Utica on Sunday, and will have a match in hand on the Strykers after Sunday's action. Empire's 5.0 goals-per-match scoring average is second-worst in the league (Tacoma, 4.8). The club announced a trade with Utica prior to matchday, acquiring forward Barbaro Shelier from Utica City FC in exchange for an undisclosed transfer fee. Shelier steps right in as the Strykers' leading scorer with (11-4=15) points in thirteen matches played. Mounir Alami leads incumbent Strykers with (7-7=14) points. Top defender Robert Palmer has 31 blocked shots, second in the MASL. Goalkeeper Brian Orozco has slumped of late, stopping only 15-of-34 shots (.441 SV%) over his past three starts.
Travel Weary For the third-of-four times this season, the Sockers are being asked to play a weekend back-to-back that includes interstate travel and a flight on the morning of the second matchday. Following a 7-6 OT shootout win on Saturday night, the club gathered at 4:15AM EST (1:15am PST) to head to the airport for a 6am EST (3am PST) flight from Kansas City to Denver. The team only had 45 minutes to transfer flights before a second leg from Denver to San Diego, arriving at 9:50am. So far this season, the Sockers are 1-1 playing the second match of a back-to-back with interstate travel. They lost to Tacoma 5-4 in Washington after flying from San Diego the morning of the match, and beat Utica 4-3 after driving eight hours overnight from Baltimore.
Getting Healthier For five straight weeks, the Sockers added new players to their injury report, ballooning to a dozen players out on February 1 against Tacoma. Last weekend, that number dropped to eight as four key contributors returned: Kraig Chiles, Charlie Gonzalez, Cesar Cerda and Tavoy Morgan. This weekend, four more players returned to active duty. Midfielder Luiz Morales came back to the club after missing three matches due to an ankle injury. Defender Ben Ramin (back) has resumed practice and is available for selection on Sunday. Midfielder/defender Jesus Pacheco netted an assist on Saturday in his return from a hamstring injury, and defensive runner Jose "Bebe" Gonzalez is similarly looking to return Sunday from a quad injury. Goalkeeper Chris Toth (broken finger) is one-to-two weeks away from his return as well. However, defender Luis "Peewee" Ortega took a hamstring injury in overtime against Kansas City and will miss at least the Empire match if not more.
Morgan Suspended Sockers forward Tavoy Morgan was shown a red card in the third quarter of Saturday night's match at Kansas City, after head-butting a Comets player. Morgan is automatically suspended for today's match against Empire, and could be subject to further punishment from the MASL's disciplinary board of review.
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 (248) and third all-time in points (248-256=504)
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 255, Leo Gibson 225, Max Ferdinand 213, Leo 201)
Goalkeeper Boris Pardo took over the all-time MASL starts record from his teammate Chris Toth (194) and moved past the 2,000 career save mark (2nd all-time, 2,117)
Defender Luis "Peewee" Ortega is two points away from 100 in his career (40-58=98)
Defender Mitchell Cardenas is seven blocked shots away from 200 in his career (193), Drew Ruggles is 17 blocks from 200
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 (196-45-6 record); his all-time Sockers coaching record including the PASL is 266-54-6
Gabi Gone (For Now) 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.
Pardo Holds Down the Fort As teammate Chris Toth recovers from a broken finger, MASL record-setting goalkeeper Boris Pardo continues to prove 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 started the last eleven matches in a row. 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 has 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).
A Balanced Attack Injuries have sapped the juice out of many of San Diego's attack players' statistics, but whether by design or necessity, the club is using a balanced attack in 2025-26. Twelve different Sockers have scored at least four goals this season, led by Charlie Gonzalez with 11 goals. Sixteen different Sockers have at least four points on the season, led by Nick Perera with (8-13=21) points. The club only has four double-digit scorers so far, but sports another nine players with between 5-9 points scored.
Major Arena Soccer League Stories from February 15, 2026
- Utica City FC Battles to the End with Baltimore, Falls 8-7 in a Shootout - Utica City FC
- San Diego Sockers Match Preview vs Empire 4:00pm - 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.
