MASL San Diego Sockers

Sockers Preview Material for 2-15-24

February 14, 2024 - Major Arena Soccer League (MASL)
San Diego Sockers News Release


The San Diego Sockers--presented by Kaiser Permanente San Diego--rematch with the Texas Outlaws on Thursday night at Pechanga Arena. Having already played one another on Tuesday--a 5-4 Sockers win--San Diego and Texas will conclude their season series with their regularly scheduled match for the week, a 7:35pm kickoff which will be streamed live on Twitch channel @masl_soccer.

The Sockers (12-2, 35 points), owners of the best record in MASL history all-time at 161-33-5, have won the first two MASL Supporters Shields, awarded to the club with the league's best regular season record. Their 12-2 record is the best through fourteen matches in the West, but trails 15-0 Monterrey in the East. San Diego is 57-4-1 over the last 2 1/2 regular seasons (61 matches).

This week concludes the three-match season series between the Sockers and Outlaws. San Diego was able to emerge from Texas with a 6-5 victory in the clubs' first meeting of the season on February 1, and followed it with a nail-biting 5-4 win on Tuesday night. The Sockers are 5-2 in the all-time series with the Outlaws, including 4-0 at Pechanga Arena. San Diego is 2-0 against Texas in the playoffs.

The Sockers are in a busy flurry within the 2023-24 schedule which sees them play four matches in ten days. Coming off a Friday night match last weekend in Chihuahua, San Diego hosts Texas on Tuesday and Thursday before traveling to Empire for a Sunday afternoon contest at Toyota Arena in Ontario. The Sockers just completed a four-match road trip through Tacoma, Texas and Chihuhahua, compiling a 3-1 record from January 28 to Feburary 9.

On Tuesday night, the Outlaws overcame seven absent starters, including the top five scorers on the team, to push the Sockers to the very limit before succumbing to San Diego's offensive pressure. Texas led 1-0, 2-1, 3-2 and took a final 4-3 lead 27 seconds into the fourth quarter. Playing after losing their top two scores to mid-match injuries, the Sockers found an equalizer on defender Mitchell Cardenas' first goal of the season at 7:19 of the fourth. Felipé Gonzalez netted the match-winner on a scramble in front of the Texas net at 13:31. Boris Pardo made eight saves in his return to net to secure the win for San Diego.

Texas (9-7-1, 27 points) has a precarious hold on second place in the Western Division, leading Chihuahua by three points, but with four more matches played than the Savage (17 to 13). The Sockers, who lead the Outlaws by eight points in the standings, also have three matches in hand. After winning eight of nine matches, Texas has lost four straight to the Sockers and Savage. The Outlaws are playing severely short-handed this week, as the club's top line is away due to commitments with the U.S. Futsal National Team. Luiz Morales (26 goals, 33 points), Sebastian Mendez (18 goals, 31 points) and David Ortiz (9 goals, 20 points) combine to form the "MOM line", and all three are expected to miss both Tuesday and Thursdays' contests. In addition, 20-goal scorer Vini Dantas and fifth-leading scorer Jorge DeLeon are out with injury. The Texas defense averages 6.4 goals allowed-oer-match. Eduardo "Pollo" Cortes stopped 15-of-20 shots on Tuesday and has a .750 SV% for the season. Uzi Tayou stepped up from defender to score two goals in the Tuesday night loss.

Storylines

Excellence is our Baseline

The occasional loss only reinforces the numerical dominance the Sockers have created within the Major Arena Soccer League. The Sockers boast an MASL-best 161-33-5 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 57-4-1 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 87-7-1 all-time record. San Diego saw its 25-match regular season home winning streak end on January 14. The club is 49-3-1 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.

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 (693), and with an assist against Empire on January 17, reached 400 points in the MASL (268-146=414 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 six straight matches, netting (9-5=14) points during the surge.

Terrific TavoyForward Tavoy Morgan is second on the Sockers with sixteen goals and owns the club lead with (17-14=31) points. Morgan has at least one point in every match 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 two matches. Morgan suffered a lower-body injury on Tuesday night and is questionable for selection.

Pardo Done Seeing Red

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 night, stopping 8-of-12 shots for his eighth victory of the year. In ten starts this season, Pardo has a 8-1 record and 4.78 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 (120), including a 96-15-5 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 questionable 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 seventeen goals and ranks third with 22 points on the season. He missed Tuesday's match due to iillness and is questionable for Thursday.

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 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 is scoreless in two matches played.

Player Highlights

Leonardo de Oliveira

Earned 20th point of the season on his 13th assist Tuesday night, setting up Mitchell Cardenas' equalizer.

Cesar Cerda

Leads Sockers defenders with six goals & 11 points, leads MASL with two short-handed goals

Guerrero Pino

Club blocked shots leader with 28, five blocks at CUU

Check out the San Diego Sockers Statistics



Major Arena Soccer League Stories from February 14, 2024


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