MASL San Diego Sockers

Sockers Start Busy Stretch Saturday

Published on January 25, 2024 under Major Arena Soccer League (MASL)
San Diego Sockers News Release


The San Diego Sockers--presented by Kaiser Permanente San Diego--begin a stretch of four matches in eight days with another interstate back-to-back, hosting the St. Louis Ambush on Saturday night before traveling to Washington to take on the Tacoma Stars on Sunday evening. Saturday's kickoff at Pechanga Arena is set for 7:05pm, and will be streamed live on Twitch channel @masl_soccer. Sunday's kickoff at accesso ShoWare Center is set for 5:05pm, and will be streamed on Twitch on channel @masl_soccer3.

The Sockers (7-1, 21 points), owners of the best record in MASL history all-time at 156-32-5, have won the first two MASL Supporters Shields, awarded to the club with the league's best regular season record. Their 7-1 record currently leads the West but trails 12-0 Monterrey in the East. San Diego is 52-3-1 over the last two+ regular seasons.

San Diego and St. Louis are meeting for the first and only time in 2023-24. The Sockers are 0-3 all-time against the Ambush, although the clubs have rarely met, and never in San Diego. On December 28, 2014, the Sockers lost 8-3 at Family Arena in St. Louis, and in the 2021 COVID season, the Sockers lost 6-4 and 4-3 matches at St. Louis. By contrast, the Sockers and Stars meet for the fifth of six times this season, and the third time in Tacoma. San Diego is 4-0 against the Stars this season, and have beaten Tacoma in twelve straight matches. Combatants dating back to the days of the original MISL, the Sockers own an all-time record of 76-22 against Tacoma. In the MASL, San Diego is 33-4 against Tacoma, and 4-0 in playoff series (with an 8-1 overall playoff record).

The Sockers had last weekend off after playing Wednesday night in Ontario against the Empire Strykers. San Diego emerged with an 8-5 win, improving to 2-0 against the Strykers this season. After a keeper-dominated first half that saw the Sockers leading 2-1, San Diego ripped off six straight goals to start the second half, building an 8-1 lead midway through the fourth quarter. Empire scored four times in quick succession with the sixth attacker to narrow the score. Brandon Escoto's two-goal performance was highlighted by a spectacular bicycle kick goal from behind the attacking line.

This weekend marks the third of four interstate back-to-back weekends for San Diego, and sees the beginning of a four-match road trip that continues into February. The Sockers will need to be packed after Saturday night's match against the Ambush, because they will have an early morning commercial flight to SEA/TAC Airport before driving into Kent, Washington for the scheduled 5:05pm kickoff against the Stars. Tacoma will have a major lying-in-wait advantage, as they will have not traveled all week, while hosting Empire on Thursday night for two night's rest. San Diego will travel on to Texas for matches against the Outlaws (Feb 1) and Dallas (Feb 3) before heading to Chihuahua to face the Savage on December 9.

St. Louis (2-7-2, 8 points) is coming off an 8-3 home win over the Baltimore Blast, but resides in sixth place in the Eastern Division, 14 points out of a playoff berth. The Ambush average 4.6 goals-per-match and have been held under four goals in four-of-11 matches. William Eskay leads St. Louis with (10-6=16) points in nine matches. Goalkeeper Paolo Nasciamiento's .721 save percentage ranks seventh in the MASL. The Ambush are 0-3-1 away this season.

Tacoma (4-4, 12 points entering Thursday) is 0-4 against the Sockers and 4-0 against everyone else. The Stars nearly took down San Diego in their last meeting, falling 6-5 at home to a goal in the final two minutes. League MVP Nick Perera ranks second in points (28) and first in assists (16) despite playing four fewer matches than the leaders. Goalkeeper Chris Toth is 4-2 in seven starts with a 6.86 GAA and .667 SV%.

Storylines

Excellence is our Baseline

The San Diego Sockers boast an MASL-best 156-32-5 record over the nine-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 52-3-1 the past two+ 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 85-7-1 all-time record. San Diego saw its 25-match regular season home winning streak end on January 14. The club is 47-3-1 at home over the past four+ seasons.

Pretty Good on the Road, Too

San Diego is 4-0 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.

Escoto En Su Bicicleta

Sockers midfielder Brandon Escoto has always had a flair for the dramatic, but 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. With the goal, Escoto moved into a tie for the team lead with eleven goals.

Chiles Dishes for 400 MASL Points

Sockers captain Kraig Chiles is in his fifteenth season with the Sockers, ranking as the franchise's all-time leader in goals (462) and points (679), and with an assist against Empire last Wednesday, reached 400 points in the MASL (259-141@0 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. Chiles has yet to feature this season outside of Southern California.

Charlie GolazoJuan Carlos "Charlie" Gonzalez is off to the best start of his three-season Sockers career, tied for the club lead with (10-8=18) points after eight matches played. Charlie has been held to (2-1=3) points in the past three matches, but has 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. Charlie now has (50-34=84) points in 47 matches as a Socker. He came to the club from Ontario, where he remains the Fury/Strykers' all-time franchise leading scorer.

Terrifc TavoyForward Tavoy Morgan leads the Sockers with eleven goals and is tied for the club lead with (11-7=18) points. Tavoy has enjoyed his meetings with Tacoma, netting (6-3=9) points in four matches this season. Morgan is on a four-match goal scoring streak.

Boris the Great

The back-to-back defending MASL Elite VI goalkeeper and MASL Goalkeeper of the Year, 39-year-old Boris Pardo bounced back from a slow start to the season, stopping 26-of-32 shots in wins over Empire and Tacoma (.813 SV%). In stopping 17-of-20 against Tacoma, Boris earned MASL Goalkeeper of the Week honors. A now three-time winner of the top goalkeeping honor in the MASL, Pardo is the league's all-time leader in wins (116), including a 95-15-5 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.

Player Highlights

Leonardo de Oliveira

Hopes to return to lineup after missing past three matches (lower body)

Gabriel Costa

T-3rd on Sockers with (6-9=15) points

Guerrero Pino

Club blocked shots leader with 17

Check out the San Diego Sockers Statistics

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Major Arena Soccer League Stories from January 25, 2024


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