Perera Departs San Diego As A Champ

The MASL Ron Newman Cup champion San Diego Sockers—presented by Kaiser Permanente—and top-scoring forward Nick Perera are parting ways after a one-year reunion during the 2025-26 season. Perera is accepting a position with another club, which will be announced in the coming days.  

“This isn’t goodbye, it’s so long for now,” said Sockers head coach and owner Phil Salvagio, “I told Nick he had to take the job. We’ll miss him here in San Diego, but he is forever a part of our family and a MASL champion.”  

“I want to say thank you to all the Sockers fans for embracing me in my return to San Diego,” said Perera, “This was a difficult decision, but I have to do what’s best for my family. I’m very happy we were able to accomplish our goals and win a championship, and I’m thankful the season went so smoothly on a personal level for myself, my teammates, and the front office. I’m forever grateful for the passion of the Sockers fans, and I’m sure we’ll see each other again.” 

Perera, who turned 40 on June 5, featured in 23 of 24 regular-season matches for San Diego, as well as all five playoff matches. He led the club in regular-season goals and scoring with (19-17=36) points, and added (4-3=7) points in the postseason. Perera scored the golden goal in overtime to push the Sockers past St. Louis in the semifinal round, and added a goal and assist to the club’s three-game series win over the Milwaukee Wave to clinch the title. Nick is the MASL’s all-time leader in assists (260), he ranks fourth all-time in goals (259), and third in points (519). A three-time champion during his indoor playing career, Perera won his first MASL championship in 2025-26 with the Sockers. He previously was part of a PASL championship team in San Diego in 2010-11, and a MISL-championship Milwaukee Wave side in 2011-12.  

The Sockers will return to Frontwave Arena in Oceanside for the 2026-27 MASL campaign, seeking their second repeat MASL championship season in franchise history. The league schedule is traditionally announced sometime shortly after Labor Day. Season tickets are available by visiting frontwavearena.com or sdsockers.com.