Sockers Match Preview
December 28, 2023 - Major Arena Soccer League (MASL)
San Diego Sockers News Release
San Diego Sockers battle the Tacoma Stars
(San Diego Sockers)
The San Diego Sockers-presented by Kaiser Permanente San Diego-close out the 2023 portion of their competitive schedule by hosting the Tacoma Stars on Saturday night at Pechanga Arena. Kickoff is set for 7:05pm PST. The match will be streamed live on Twitch on channel @masl_soccer.
The Sockers (4-0, 12 points), owners of the best record in MASL history all-time at 153-31-5, are back-to-back winners of the MASL Supporters Shield, awarded to the club with the league's best regular season record. In 2022-23 the Sockers went 22-2, finishing with five more wins than the next-best team. San Diego is 49-2-1 over the last two+ regular seasons. The club carries a fourteen-match regular season winning streak and a 24-match regular season home winning streak into Saturday, dating back to the 2022-23 season.
This is the third of six meetings between the Tacoma Stars and the Sockers during the 2023-24 MASL campaign. San Diego is 2-0 against Tacoma, posting wins of 11-6 on December 3 at home, and 9-6 on December 9 away. The clubs will meet again in Washington on January 13 and January 28, before the season series concludes on March 30 in the Sockers' final regular season match.
San Diego is coming off a bye weekend over the holidays. In their most recent action, the club pulled out back-to-back wins on December 16 and 17, edging the Dallas Sidekicks on the road 8-7 before returning home for a 7-3 win over the Empire Strykers. The Sockers were able to sweep the first of four interstate back-to-backs on the schedule this season. Brandon Escoto and Tavoy Morgan each netted hat tricks in the win at Dallas, with Morgan scoring the match-winner in the fourth quarter. Five players netted multi-point performances against Empire, with Cesar Cerda and Kraig Chiles each scoring a brace.
Combatants dating back to the days of the original MISL, the Sockers own an all-time record of 74-22 against Tacoma. In the MASL, San Diego is 31-4 against Tacoma, and 4-0 in playoff series (with an 8-1 overall playoff record). The Sockers went 2-0 against the Stars in 2022-23, and have won ten straight in the series, last losing on 3/14/21 at Toyota Arena in Ontario (during the COVID-influenced season).
Tacoma (1-2, 3 points) will be playing their second match of a weekend road trip, after taking on the Empire Strykers on Thursday night in Ontario. The Stars are currently in fourth position in the Western Division, the same placement they found themselves in during the 2022-23 season. The Stars beat Baltimore 7-4 on December 17 for their first win of the season. Tacoma is battling through a challenging schedule that will see them play the Sockers five times, the Eastern Conference-leading Monterrey Flash twice, along with Eastern powerhouses UCFC and Kansas City once each during their first 15 matches. Defending MASL MVP Nick Perera is in his familiar position atop the stat sheet for the Stars, leading the club in goals (5) and points (9). Perera, Alessandro Canale, and Adrian Correa have combined to score 11 of Tacoma's 19 goals on the season. Former Sockers goalkeeper Chris Toth is 1-1 with a 7.56 GAA and .633 SV% on the season.
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 San Diego Sockers battle the Tacoma Stars |
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