Match Preview At Milwuakee
The San Diego Sockers—presented by Kaiser Permanente—continue their January away from home as they travel to Wisconsin to take on the Milwaukee Wave on Saturday night at the UW Milwaukee-Panther Arena. The match is scheduled for a 7:05 EST/4:05 PST kickoff, and can be viewed domestically on MASL TV on YouTube, as well as supplemental coverage on the National Soccer Network and Victory+, and international coverage on Sportworld, Fox Sports Mexico, and the Unbeaten Network.
The Sockers (5-2-1, 16 points) have won five of their last six matches, moving into a tie with Milwaukee for second place in the Major Arena Soccer League standings, just two points behind first-place Kansas City. Both clubs have three matches in hand over the Comets. San Diego is in the midst of one of its most challenging road schedules in modern franchise history, spending the entire month of January on the road during a six-match trip. The Sockers are 2-1 so far on the road trip, with wins over Baltimore and Utica last weekend. San Diego will travel to Empire and then back to Baltimore next week on the 22nd and 24th to wrap up the trip. The single game this week ends a busy stretch during which San Diego played five times in thirteen days, including a pair of back-to-backs with travel between games.
In their most recent match, a road-weary Sockers team trudged into Utica just before dawn on Sunday after beating Baltimore 9-6 the night before in Towson, Maryland, and driving almost eight hours by bus through three states. San Diego fell behind the fresh Utica team 3-0 midway through the second quarter, at which point rookie goalkeeper Nathanael Linquist was replaced by 41-year-old veteran Boris Pardo, who had made 18 saves the night prior. Pardo stopped 11-of-11 shots the rest of the way, as the Sockers rallied for a 4-3 win. Charlie Gonzalez led the way offensively with a pair of goals, while Taylor Bond and Adrian Reyes also scored. The Sockers improved to 4-0 all-time against Utica.
Saturday’s match is the second and final meeting this season between the Wave and the Sockers. San Diego will be seeking a measure of revenge and looking to spoil the party at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena, after the Wave opened their season with an 8-4 win at Frontwave Arena. Milwaukee can take the season series with a home win, while the Sockers will be looking to forge a tie. In the 12-year history of the MASL, the Sockers are 9-6 against the Wave.
Milwaukee (5-1-2, 16 points) is off to an impressive start to the season behind first-year head coach Marcio Leite, who was a top-line star for the Wave for two decades in Milwaukee, and won a Ron Newman Cup in his one season on loan to the Sockers in 2021. The Wave have played six of their eight matches on the road, and are 2-0 at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena. Milwaukee has played four one-goal matches out of its eight this season, going 2-2. Young midfielder Alex Sanchez (12-4=16 points) and defender Mario Alvarez (7-9=16 points) are tied for the club scoring lead. Ian Bennett has four goals in four games. William Banahene is the starter in net for Milwaukee, with a 4-1-1 record, 5.99 GAA, and .672 SV%.