Sockers End Busy Stretch with California Showdown at Empire
February 17, 2024 - Major Arena Soccer League (MASL)
San Diego Sockers News Release
San Diego Sockers celebrate a goal against the Empire Strykers
(San Diego Sockers)
The San Diego Sockers--presented by Kaiser Permanente San Diego--travel up the I-15 to take on their regional rivals, the Empire Strykers, on Sunday afternoon at Toyota Arena in Ontario, CA. The match is set for a 4:05pm kickoff, and will be streamed live on Twitch channel @masl_soccer.
The Sockers (13-2, 38 points), owners of the best record in MASL history all-time at 162-33-5, are the first team in the league to clinch a spot in the Ron Newman Cup playoffs for 2024. The Sockers have won the first two MASL Supporters Shields, awarded to the club with the league's best regular season record. Their 13-2 record is the best through fifteen matches in the West, but trails 15-0 Monterrey in the East. San Diego is 58-4-1 over the last 2 1/2 regular seasons (63 matches).
San Diego and Empire meeting for the third of six times this season. The two clubs will face one another four times in the next six matches. The Sockers are 2-0 against the Strykers so far, with wins of 7-3 at home on December 17, and 8-5 in Ontario on January 17. The clubs' last fixture saw the Sockers take an 8-1 lead midway through the fourth quarter, only for Empire to rally back with four sixth-attacker goals in quick succession to narrow the scoreline. In the all-time series, San Diego is 33-9 against the Ontario Fury/Empire Strykers franchise.
The Sockers are in a busy flurry within the 2023-24 schedule, with Sunday marking their fourth match in ten days. Coming off a Friday night match last weekend in Chihuahua, San Diego hosted Texas on Tuesday and Thursday before traveling to Empire for Sunday's afternoon contest at Toyota Arena in Ontario. The Sockers previously completed a four-match road trip through Tacoma, Texas and Chihuhahua, compiling a 3-1 record from January 28 to February 9.
In San Diego's last match, the club overcame a lineup crippled by injuries, posting four goals in the first and fourth quarters to complete a season sweep of the Texas Outlaws with an 8-4 final score. The Sockers went 3-0 against Texas this season, including two wins this week at Pechanga Arena. Brandon Escoto scored his team-leading 18th and 19th goals of the season, while Felipe Gonzalez added two goals of his own. San Diego won despite missing the club's top two scorers (Tavoy Morgan, Charlie Gonzalez) and top-two playmaking midfielders (Leonardo de Oliveira, Gabriel Costa) due to injury. None of the four are expected to feature on Sunday.
Empire (3-12, 8 points) have lost three matches in a row and seven of eight, and reside in fifth place in the Western Division, fourteen points out of a playoff spot. First-year head coach Paul Wright's side has been adjusting to a new scheme and roster focused on Mexican outdoor star Marco Fabián, who has (18-11)) points in 12 matches played. Fabián has scored at least one goal in all twelve matches of his indoor career, but took 18 shots to find his goal in Empire's last match, a 7-2 loss at Kansas City. Empire is 1-6 at Toyota Arena this season. Justin Stinson (14-9# points) and Stefan Mijatovic (10-11=21 points) are the other 20+ point scorers on the club. Brian Orozco has started three of the last four matches in net, posting a 1-2 record, 5.62 GAA and .667 SV%.
Excellence is our Baseline
The San Diego Sockers boast an MASL-best 162-33-5 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 58-4-1 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 88-7-1 all-time record. San Diego saw its 25-match regular season home winning streak end on January 14. The club is 50-3-1 at home over the past four+ seasons.
Pretty Good on the Road, Too
San Diego is 7-1 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.
Battered and Bruised
The Sockers team lining up on Sunday will be a far cry from what the club hopes to have back in time for the Ron Newman Cup playoffs. Top scorer Tavoy Morgan (leg) and second-leading scorer Charlie Gonzalez (hamstring) are both expected to miss multiple weeks after taking injuries on Tuesday night during the club's 5-4 win over Texas. Leonardo de Oliveira, the club's assists leader over the past three seasons, is questionable to play Sunday after missing Thursday due to a sore knee. Top free-agent acquisition Gabriel Costa had surgery to repair a broken wrist at the start of February, and is expected to be out until mid-March. In addition, midfielder Flavio Guzman (knee), forward Kraig Chiles (leg) and midfielder Brandon Escoto (illness) are at less than 100 percent.
Chiles Heating Up on Road to 700 Career Points
Sockers captain Kraig Chiles is in his fifteenth season with the Sockers, ranking as the franchise's all-time leader in goals (471) and points (694), and with an assist against Empire on January 17, reached 400 points in the MASL (268-147=415 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 three 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 has responded with points in seven straight matches, netting (9-6=15) points during the surge.
Terrific TavoyForward Tavoy Morgan is second on the Sockers with seventeen goals and owns the club lead with (17-14=31) points. Morgan has at least one point in every match he has played this season, and just saw an eight-match goal scoring streak ended in Chihuahua. Tavoy has already set a personal high with 14 assists on the season, including five in his last three matches played. Morgan suffered a lower-body injury on Tuesday night and is out for Sunday.
Pardo Three Wins From 100 With Sockers
Sockers two-time defending MASL Goalkeeper of the Year Boris Pardo returned from a three-match suspension to take the net against Texas on Tuesday and Thursday night, allowing four goals in each match to pick up two wins. In eleven starts this season, Pardo has a 9-1 record and 4.70 GAA, with a .669 SV%. A now three-time winner of the top goalkeeping honor in the MASL, Pardo is the league's all-time leader in wins (121), including a 97-15-5 mark with the Sockers. Boris led the MASL in wins in 2022-23 with a 21-2 record, marking the third time in three full 24-match schedules where he reached the 20-win plateau. The 39-year-old also led the league in goals-against average (3.80) while finishing fifth in save percentage (.726). In 2021-22, Pardo earned his second straight championship, while picking up his second career award as MASL Goalkeeper of the Year. He again led the MASL in wins (19) and goals-against-average (4.20), and his .731 save percentage ranked second in the league.
Charlie Golazo Hurting
Returning after missing the Chihuahua match due to travel unavailability, 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 twelve matches played. However, Gonzalez suffered a lower-body injury in the second quarter on Tuesday, and is doubtful for selection the rest of the week. 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 leads the Sockers with nineteen goals and ranks T-2nd with 25 points on the season. He missed Tuesday's match due to iillness but returned Thursday, netting two goals with an assist.
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.
Peewee Steps Up Into the Midfield
A defender by trade, Luis "Peewee" Ortega has been forced to move into the midfield thanks to injuries to Charlie Gonzalez, Gabriel Costa and Leonardo de Oliveira. Peewee has responded with points in two matches this week, netting a goal on Tuesday night and an assist on Thursday night against Texas. Ortega added three blocks in Thursday's match, and has (2-2=4) points and 17 blocks in twelve matches this season.
A New Flavor of Player
The Sockers on February 7 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 made his debut on Friday in Chihuahua, and scored his first Sockers goal on Thursday vs the Outlaws.
Player Highlights
Cesar Cerda
Moved into power play due to injuries; leads Sockers defenders with 7 goals, 12 points
Guerrero Pino
Club blocked shots leader with 30, added two assists vs Texas on Thursday
Felipe Gonzalez
Moved into midfield due to injuries, (3-1=4) points last two matches
Images from this story
 San Diego Sockers celebrate a goal against the Empire Strykers |
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