Sockers at Chihuahua Preview
Published on February 8, 2024 under Major Arena Soccer League (MASL)
San Diego Sockers News Release
The San Diego Sockers--presented by Kaiser Permanente San Diego--conclude a four-match road trip by traveling south of the border to take on the Chihuahua Savage at Corner Sport Arena in Chihuahua, Chihuahua, MX on Friday evening. The match is set for a 6:05 PT kickoff, and will be streamed live in Spanish on Twitch channel @masl_soccer2, and in English on Twitch channel @sandiegosockers.
The Sockers (11-1, 32 points), owners of the best record in MASL history all-time at 160-32-5, have won the first two MASL Supporters Shields, awarded to the club with the league's best regular season record. Their 11-1 record is the best through ten matches in the West, but trails 15-0 Monterrey in the East. San Diego is 56-3-1 over the last 2 1/2 regular seasons (60 matches).
The Sockers and Savage are meeting for the second of three times this season, and the only time in Chihuahua. On January 14, the Savage came to San Diego and ended the Sockers' 25-match home winning streak, controlling a 5-1 result from start to finish. Chihuahua won that night in the debut of head coach Genoni Martinez and goalkeeper Diego Reynoso. The two teams will conclude their season series on Sunday, March 3 in San Diego. In the all-time series, the Sockers are 6-1 in the regular season (3-0 in Mexico) and 2-3 in the playoffs.
San Diego is 3-0 so far on a grueling four-match road trip which took them from Tacoma to Texas to Chihuahua, Mexico over three weekends. The Sockers opened the trip coming from behind in dramatic fashion to beat Tacoma on Sunday by an 8-7 score in overtime. A wild fourth quarter featured twelve penalty cards shown to both teams, including three red cards. Despite being short-handed, the Sockers pulled their keeper to get back to even strength and scored twice in the final three minutes to tie the score 7-7. San Diego killed a penalty early in overtime before Tavoy Morgan's goal at 2:24 of the extra period gave the Sockers the improbable win.
Last Thursday, San Diego gutted out one of their most impressive wins of the season, shutting down the high-scoring Texas Outlaws on their home floor in a 6-5 victory. Filling in for the suspended Boris Pardo in net, goalkeeper Xavier Snaer-Williams made a career-high 19 saves, while the defense in front of him blocked 17 shots. On Saturday, the offense took charge in a 10-3 win over the Dallas Sidekicks. Charlie Gonzalez led the way with a goal and four assists, Tavoy Morgan netted two goals with two assists and Kraig Chiles had a first-half hat trick.
Chihuahua (6-5, 18 points) is 0-5 against the Monterrey Flash and 6-0 against the rest of the MASL. Since taking over on the bench, head coach Genoni Martinez has seen the Savage post a 4-1 record, outscoring opponents 36-10. Of particular note is the Chihuahua defense, which has not allowed more than four goals in a match since Genoni's arrival, and an average of 2.0 goals conceded-per-match. Newly-installed keeper Diego Reynoso is 4-1 with a league-leading 2.06 GAA and ..848 SV%. Miguel Angel Diaz leads the offense with 12 goals in 11 matches.
Storylines
Excellence is our Baseline
The San Diego Sockers boast an MASL-best 160-32-5 record over the ten-year history of the league. San Diego has won consecutive MASL Supporters Shields, awarded to the club with the best regular season record in the league. The Sockers finished 22-2 in 2022-23, five wins ahead of Chihuahua (17) for the highest mark. The Sockers have a record of 56-3-1 the past 2 1/2 seasons, and saw a 16-match regular season winning streak snapped on January 14 against the Savage. The last time the Sockers lost two matches in a row was March 13 and 14, 2021 during the COVID season when the club played only on the road.
The Grand Old Arena is Our Fortress
The Sockers have also been the most dominant home team in MASL history, with an 86-7-1 all-time record. San Diego saw its 25-match regular season home winning streak end on January 14. The club is 48-3-1 at home over the past four+ seasons.
Pretty Good on the Road, Too
San Diego is 7-0 on the season away. The Sockers' 10-2 road record in the 2022-23 season was easily the best in the MASL. Chihuahua was second-best at 7-5. The Sockers had a 17-match regular season road winning streak snapped in Ontario on February 8, part of a 4-2 road trip that included regulation wins in Chihuahua and Monterrey. San Diego was the only club in the MASL to pull all the available points out of their road matches in Mexico last season, getting nine of a possible nine out of Monterrey and Chihuahua.
Pardo Seeing Red
The Sockers will be without the services of all-MASL goalkeeper Boris Pardo for the remainder of their road trip, as the league handed down a three-match suspension to the 39-year-old after he was shown a red card for verbally abusing a referee on Sunday. In addition to the standard one-match suspension for a red, Pardo saw two matches added for "conduct detrimental to the league".
Charlie Golazo
Juan Carlos "Charlie" Gonzalez is off to the best start of his three-season Sockers career, second on the club with (12-13=25) points after eleven matches played. Charlie has a pair of five-point scoring efforts this season, and at least one point in every match this season. Gonzalez netted multi-point games in his first five matches this year, led by a three-goal, two-assist performance on December 9 in Tacoma, then netted a goal with four assists at Dallas on February 3. Charlie now has (52-39') points in 50 matches as a Socker. He came to the club from Ontario, where he remains the Fury/Strykers' all-time franchise leading scorer.
Escoto En Su Bicicleta
Sockers midfielder Brandon Escoto has always had a flair for the dramatic, and showed it again on January 28 with a header goal at 14:55 of the fourth quarter to equalize the match against Tacoma and send San Diego toward victory. "Churras" took his soccer artistry to new heights against Empire on January 17 with an audacious bicycle kick from behind the attacking line in the fourth quarter. Escoto's bid hit the dead center of the net after sailing over the goalkeeper's head for the MASL Goal of the Year to date. Brandon is tied for the Sockers club lead with sixteen goals and ranks T-3rd with 21 points on the season.
Return of Mustache Power? Chiles Heating Up
Sockers captain Kraig Chiles is in his fifteenth season with the Sockers, ranking as the franchise's all-time leader in goals (469) and points (689), and with an assist against Empire on January 17, reached 400 points in the MASL (266-144=410 career, fifth-most). Chiles joined Franck Tayou, Ian Bennett, Leo Gibson and Nick Perera in the MASL 400-point club. (Tayou opened the MASL 500-point club two weeks ago.) Last season, Chiles once again paced the Sockers attack, leading all scorers with (21-20=41) points. It was the eleventh time in his career he averaged at least 2.0 points per match. After a lull which saw the captain held to two assists in three matches, Chiles began to show the return of a midseason mustache, which has often preceded a scoring binge. He immediately responded with four straight multi-point games, netting (7-3=10) points during the surge.
Terrifc TavoyForward Tavoy Morgan is tied for first on the Sockers with sixteen goals and owns the club lead with (16-11') points. Morgan is on an eight-match goal scoring streak, including the OT match-winner on January 28 at Tacoma, and has at least one point in every match this season. Morgan scored two goals with two assists in his last match, at Dallas.
Time for Xavier to Step Up, And He Is
With Boris Pardo serving a three-match suspension, the starting duties in the cage have fallen to Xavier Snaer-Williams. "X-Man", should he start Friday's match, will pass his season high for minutes in the MASL (he is at 202:46 this season, career-high is 205:17 in 2021-22). Snaer-Williams earned the win on Sunday in relief of Pardo, then stopped 19-of-24 shots in Texas to bag the win once again, before stopping 6-of-9 in Dallas for another victory. He is 4-0 in seven matches (two starts) this season, with a 4.74 GAA and .755 SV%. The last time Snaer-Williams was asked to step in for a weekend due to a Pardo suspension, he earned MASL Goalkeeper of the Week, allowing just six goals in two matches against Tacoma and UCFC while stopping 23-of-29 shots (.793 SV%). He is now 8-0 all-time in net for San Diego, 6-0 as a starter.
Gabi Goal Gone (For Now)
In his second MASL season, midfielder Gabriel Costa has proven himself to be a consistent high scorer, averaging almost two points per match. Costa picked up two assists on Sunday in Tacoma after a team-best goal and two assists vs. St. Louis on Saturday, then added a power play goal against Texas. Costa's (8-13=21) points are T-3rd on the Sockers and his 13 assists are tied for the club lead. Having recently suffered a broken wrist, Costa had successful surgery on February 2. Costa is expected to miss six weeks but return in time for the Ron Newman Cup playoffs.
A New Flavor of Player
The Sockers on Wednesday announced the signing of midfielder Flávio Guzman to a MASL player contract for the remainder of the 2023-24 season. Guzman comes to the Sockers from the Dallas Sidekicks, where over two seasons he scored (16-8=24) points in 19 matches played, including (4-1=5) points in five matches this season. The 30-year-old Texas native is available for selection on Friday night in Mexico.
Player Highlights
Leonardo de Oliveira
(3-13=16) points in seven matches, four assists in two matches last weekend
Cesar Cerda
Leads Sockers defenders with six goals & 11 points, leads MASL with two short-handed goals
Guerrero Pino
Club blocked shots leader with 23
Major Arena Soccer League Stories from February 8, 2024
- St. Louis Ambush Host Tacoma Stars on Alumni Night Saturday - St. Louis Ambush
- Sockers at Chihuahua Preview - San Diego Sockers
- Texas Outlaws Partner with Tehuacán USA to Bring Mineral Water to Upbring Head Start Preschool - Texas Outlaws
- Baltimore Blast to Host First-Ever MASL Outdoor Game - Baltimore Blast
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