(All photos courtesy Aaron Jaffe)
DEL MAR---Kraig Chiles scored five goals and Eric Wunderle had a hat trick and two assists as the San Diego Sockers raced out to a 9-1 lead before coasting home to a 13-6 victory in front of 2,334 at the Del Mar Arena. Eduardo Velez added two goals and two assists for the Sockers (6-0), who outscored Anaheim 5-0 in the second quarter to establish a 7-1 halftime lead.
The Sockers honored legendary former head coach Ron Newman at halftime, re-naming the PASL championship trophy the "Ron Newman Cup". Newman was joined by a number of Sockers legends from the past including Juli Veee, Brian Quinn and Zoltan Toth on "Alumni Night", re-uniting to witness San Diego’s best performance so far in the PASL season. The 78-year-old Newman is widely considered the greatest indoor soccer coach in history, leading the Sockers to ten championships in eleven seasons on the bench.
Chiles scored three goals after intermission to improve his league-leading total to 19 in six games. An increasingly chippy game took a turn for the worse with a benches-clearing brawl in the fourth quarter, sparked by a tussle between Chiles and Anaheim defender Brennan Tennelle. Tennelle was ejected for fighting along with Sockers midfielder Eduardo Velez (although Velez only suffered a punch, he did not take a swing). Both head coaches also received yellow cards during the contentious game. Anaheim head coach Bernie Lilavois recorded a rare red-yellow double, having been red carded earlier on Saturday afternoon during the Sockers Reserves’ 11-4 win over the Bolts Reserves.
The Sockers built out to 10-2 lead late in the third quarter before pulling up the reins. Anaheim spent most of the final eighteen minutes of game play in six attackers formation, with Paul Wright playing goalkeeper. Enrique Tovar led the Bolts (3-5) with a hat trick while Rafael Gaytan added two goals. Miguel Sanchez had a goal and two assists.
The physical nature of the game took its toll on the Sockers, and several veterans will not be in the lineup for Sunday’s matinee in Phoenix. Team captain Aaron Susi (ankle), goalkeeper Riley Swift (thumb) both were kept home for the game, while midfielder Majell Aterado (hamstring) travelled but will be a game-time decision
