MASL All-Stars Add Sockers' Back Line for Defense

KANSAS CITY, MO -- The Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) continued to pad out its rosters for the upcoming MASL All-Star Game by selecting the top two defenders from the San Diego Sockers, Cesar Cerda, and Guerrero Pino. Both players are expected to participate in the December 5 exhibition contest from Cable Dahmer Arena in Independence, Missouri. 

Cerda and Pino join Sockers captain/forward Kraig Chiles and midfielder Slavisa Ubiparipovic on the Western All-Star squad. 

Cerda, 27, earned all-MASL Honorable Mention honors in the 2019-20 campaign, which saw him appear in 20 contests, leading San Diego defenders with eight goals and 19 points (8-11=19) along with nine shot blocks. For his career, Cerda has suited up for 131 games with San Diego, Las Vegas, and Saltillo, scoring 75 goals with 76 assists (75-76=153 points). 

Pino, 30, completed his second season with the Sockers in 2019-20, appearing in 19 matches with (1-5=6) points and 23 blocked shots. Pino was a third-team all-MASL performer in 2018-19 with San Diego, anchoring a defense that allowed the fewest goals in the league. A Parral, Mexico native, Pino was named the captain of Team Mexico prior to the 2019 WMF World Cup in Perth, Australia. He led Mexico to a perfect 7-0 record in the October 2019 competition, winning the WMF World Cup for the first time.

The MASL 2019-2020 season was ended in March due to the COVID pandemic. The league is hopeful of staging a season in 2020-21, with a tentative starting date announced for late December. The Sockers are continuing to monitor the situation as it stands with health and safety guidelines in the state of California, and County of San Diego, and have not made any announcement yet as to their potential participation in such a season. 

The MASL is expected to make further All-Star player announcements in the coming days and weeks leading up to December 5.  A limited number of socially-distanced tickets for the All-Star Game in Missouri are now available through www.ticketmaster.com or by calling the Kansas City Comets office at (888) 9-COMETS.