Sockers Close Weekend at Monterrey
March 25, 2023 - Major Arena Soccer League (MASL)
San Diego Sockers News Release
The San Diego Sockers--presented by Kaiser Permanente San Diego--travel south of the border for their final road match of the 2022-23 MASL campaign, battling the Monterrey Flash from Arena Monterrey in Nuevo Leon on Sunday afternoon. The match is scheduled for a 2:35pm PDT kickoff, and will be streamed live on Twitch in English on channel @sandiegosockers, and in Spanish on channel @masl_soccer2.
The Sockers (19-2, 54 points) have won seven straight, clinching both a playoff berth and the MASL Supporters Shield, awarded to the club with the best regular season record in the league. San Diego will have home-field advantage throughout the upcoming Ron Newman Cup playoffs. With three matches remaining in the season, San Diego's goal is to ensure full health while also remaining in proper form for the playoffs.
Sunday will mark the third and final meeting in the regular season between the Sockers and Flash. San Diego is 2-0 in the season series, winning 6-3 in Monterrey on February 26 and 6-4 in San Diego on March 17. The Sockers have an all-time record of 8-9 against the Monterrey franchise, dating back to previous franchise iterations and their early meetings in MISL-II in the early 2000s. In the MASL, the Sockers are 4-1-1 against the Flash in the regular season, but 0-2 in the playoffs.
This is the second match of the weekend for the Sockers, who close out the regular season with six matches in sixteen days (dating back to March 17). On Friday, San Diego outlasted the Empire Strykers, scoring in the final minute and again in overtime for a 5-4 win. Christian Gutierrez netted his 22nd goal of the season to tie the match at 4-4 with 16.9 seconds in regulation, before Tavoy Morgan scored his second goal of the night and 20th of the season at 7:01 of golden goal overtime, completing a wall pass from Juan Manuel Rojo with a tap-in. Felipe Gonzalez added a goal and assist while Boris Pardo stopped 7-of-11 shots for his league leading 19th win of the season.
Monterrey (11-8-2, 32 points) dropped a 9-6 decision to the Chihuahua Savage on Friday night at Corner Sport Arena in Chihuahua, keeping the Flash in sixth place in the MASL Western Conference. Monterrey enters the weekend one point behind Mesquite for the fifth and final playoff berth, with the Outlaws set to play Baltimore on Saturday and Sunday. The Flash will conclude their season next week with two matches against winless Dallas, offering a strong opportunity to climb the standings late. Monterrey has won four straight at home, including a 5-2 victory over Chihuahua last Sunday. The Flash have outscored their opponents 43-17 during the home surge. Luis Genaro Castillo leads Monterrey with 18 goals. Daniel Villela and Erick Tovar are tied for the team points lead at 24. Diego Reynoso and Christian Hernandez have split time in net for the Flash. The veteran Reynoso is 7-4 in 14 starts with a 4.74 GAA and .714 SV%. The rookie Hernandez is 4-4-2 in 11 appearances with a 5.70 GAA and .684 SV%.
Storylines
Shields Up!
On Friday night, the San Diego Sockers received their second straight MASL Supporters Shield, awarded to the club with the best regular season record in the league. San Diego clinched the honor with their sixth straight win on Sunday night, then extended their winning streak to seven after lifting the Shield in a pre-match ceremony. The Sockers have seven more points than their closest competitor, Chihuahua (54 points to 47). The Sockers have a record of 42-2-1 the past two seasons.
We've Made Our Home a Fortress
The Sockers have been the most dominant home team in MASL history, with a 78-6-1 all-time record. San Diego is currently 10-0 at home and riding a 20-match home winning streak. The club is 41-2-1 at home over the past four seasons. The Sockers close the season with their final two matches at Pechanga Arena San Diego.
Not Bad on the Road, Either
San Diego's 9-2 road record in the 2022-23 season is easily the best in the MASL. Chihuahua is 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 is the only club in the MASL to pull all the available points out of their road matches in Mexico so far this season, and will be looking to get all three points on Sunday to go 9-of-9.
For Your Consideration: Boris Pardo for MASL MVP
How do you select a league MVP from a star-laden team? Look to the one man who is the singular through-line for the club's league-leading defense, and an ironman in net. The defending MASL Elite VI goalkeeper and MASL Goalkeeper of the Year, 39-year-old Boris Pardo has maintained his all-league form in 2022-23. Pardo is 19-2 in 21 starts, having played all but 95 minutes total in net this season while starting every match. He leads the MASL in wins (19), GAA (3.94) and ranks fifth in SV% (.714). All-time in MASL history, Pardo improved his career record to 110-24-7, five wins ahead of second-place William Vanzela. Pardo was the first MASL goalkeeper to reach the 100-win plateau on February 3, a feat matched by Vanzela a month ago. In 2021-22, Pardo led the MASL in wins (19-0-1 record) and goals-against average (4.20 GAA), while his .731 save percentage was second in the league. Pardo was even better in the playoffs, starting all seven matches and posting a 6-0-1 record, 3.36 GAA and .767 SV%. In 2018-19, Pardo won his first Goalkeeper of the Year award, winning a league-record 22 games in net (22-1 record).
Ironman in Net
Boris Pardo is one of only four MASL goalkeepers to start all 21 matches so far this season. Here's how they compare:
Name Starts Minutes Record GAA Saves SV%
Boris Pardo (SD) 21 1157:28 19-2 3.94 187/262 .714
Andrew Coughlin (UCFC) 21 1231:35 11-9-1 5.99 249/371 .671
Danny Waltman (TAC) 21 1204:00 11-9-1 5.98 268/386 .694
William Banahene (MKE) 21 1203:24 13-7-1 5.88 259/376 .689
Defense Leads the Way
The Sockers have allowed the fewest goals in the MASL (88), seven fewer than second-place Baltimore (95). San Diego's average of 4.2 goals conceded-per-match compares to a league average of 5.86 goals conceded-per-match. Last season, the Sockers were the only club in the MASL to allow fewer than 100 goals in the regular season (98). If San Diego can allow eleven or fewer goals in their remaining three matches they will accomplish the feat back-to-back.
Golden Gutierrez
Sockers forward Christian Gutierrez earned the nickname "Golden" for his ability to finish out overtime matches with the clinching goal, a habit he formed with three last-goal clinchers in the 2021 Ron Newman Cup playoffs. Gutierrez kept his golden habits alive in San Diego's last road meeting with Empire, netting the OT winner 23 seconds into extra time, then stunned the Strykers on Friday with a last-gasp equalizer at 14:43 of the fourth quarter. 16 of Gutierrez's 22 goals have been scored in the fourth quarter or later this season. In San Diego's March 19 win over Empire, Gutierrez scored into the empty net against the six-attacker formation twice in the final two minutes, securing the victory. On the season, Gutierrez leads the club with 22 goals and fifth with 24 points.
Mustache P-P-P-Power
Sockers captain Kraig Chiles is the franchise's all-time leader in goals (456) and points (665), and is on the long approach to 400 points in the MASL (253-133=386 career, fifth-most). After tying the longest scoring drought of his career with three straight matches without a goal or assist, Chiles--sporting a jaunty mustache--began a scoring barrage on February 24 in Chihuahua, making up for the absence of Tavoy Morgan with a hat trick and assist. He followed it up two days later in Monterrey with two more goals and an assist for a (5-2=7) point weekend, and was named MASL Offensive Player of the Week. Chiles extended his multi-point scoring streak to six matches with (11-9 ) points before being shut out on Friday against Empire. Chiles now is second on the club in goals (21) and tied for the club lead in points (35).
Power Play Could Use a Spark
The Sockers rank seventh in the MASL in power play conversion percentage (18-for-43, 23%). San Diego has gone 1-for-8 in their last five matches on the power play, dropping from second to seventh in the league during that span. San Diego's eighteen power play goals are tied with Utica for second in the MASL, six behind Milwaukee (24). San Diego's penalty kill is 21-for-31 at preventing goals (68%), third in the league. The Sockers rank second in the MASL with three short-handed goals (Kansas City, four). Last year, San Diego led the MASL in both power play efficiency (27-for-45, 60%) and penalty killing efficiency (16-for-22, 73%) during the 2021-22 season. Charlie Gonzalez leads the club with five power play goals.
Electric Escoto Unplugged Last Weekend, Returns Sunday
Sockers midfielder and Tijuana native Brandon Escoto was held scoreless on Friday and Sunday after netting at least one point in each of his first fourteen matches played this season. Drawing a double card penalty against Empire, Escoto moved up to eight penalty accumulation points, drawing an automatic one-match suspension that was served on Friday. A prolific and dangerous scorer, Brandon has (10-13#) points in 16 matches. In his career, Escoto averages almost a goal-per-match, with 137 goals scored in 147 matches played. Escoto was one of the most balanced attackers in the MASL in 2021-22, finishing in the MASL's top-10 in both goals and assists with (21-23=44) points, good for T-7th in the league. Rebounding from a two-match suspension in February, Escoto recorded four straight multi-point matches, with (2-7=9) points during the surge from February 24-March 9.
Locked in Leo Looking for All-MASL Honors
Brazilian midfielder Leonardo de Oliveira is tied for the Sockers' scoring lead with (12-23=35) points, having played all 21 matches so far this season. "Leo" ranks second in the MASL in assists with 23 (Nick Perera, TAC, 34). Last season, Leo led the MASL with 33 assists, earning the league's first-ever "Pass Master" award. Leo's total was six higher than second-place finisher Perera. Combined with 13 goals on the season, de Oliveira's 46 points scored ranked tied for fifth in the league. Leo added his 100th career MASL goal during the season, and has 117 goals and 270 points in his indoor career, an average of 1.9 points-per-match. His 153 career assists are the fifth-most in MASL history.
Who's Out
Midfielder Juan Carlos "Charlie" Gonzalez will miss his third straight match with a lower-body injury and not make the trip to Mexico. Defender Guerrero Pino (travel restrictions) will also miss the Monterrey match.
Player Highlights
Felipe Gonzalez
His (11-9 ) points are the most in his Sockers career
Juan Manuel Rojo
Leads Sockers defenders in scoring with (6-8=14) points
Tavoy Morgan
Has four goals in his last two matches
Major Arena Soccer League Stories from March 25, 2023
- St. Louis Ambush Clash with Milwaukee Sunday - St. Louis Ambush
- Baltimore Blast Use Second-Half Surge to Down Mesquite Outlaws, 3-2 - Baltimore Blast
- Sockers Close Weekend at Monterrey - San Diego Sockers
- Stars Roll to 12-3 Win over Dallas in Home Finale - Tacoma Stars
- Baltimore Blast Host Mesquite Outlaws on Sunday - Baltimore Blast
- Savage Gana de Nuevo, 9-6 vs Flash - Chihuahua Savage
- Sprint to Post-Season Features Three Home Games, Starting Sunday vs. Utica City FC - Florida Tropics SC
- Morgan Answers The Call - San Diego Sockers
- Sidekicks Lose to Tacoma Stars in Friday Night Game - Dallas Sidekicks
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