Sockers Claim 6-5 Semis Match 1 Win

Nick Perera scored two goals with one assist, and Chris Toth made 14 saves in net, as the San Diego Sockers—presented by Kaiser Permanente—held off the St. Louis Ambush 6-5 on Friday night at The Family Arena in St. Louis, Missouri. The Sockers lead the best-of-three MASL Ron Newman Cup semifinal series 1-0, with the second match (and a third Knockout Game if needed) to be held at Frontwave Arena in Oceanside on Sunday at 5:05pm.  

“The win was huge for us coming here to St. Louis,” said Perera, who returned to the Sockers this season after eight seasons playing elsewhere around the league. “Family Arena is a tough place to play, and the atmosphere was electric tonight. We have a great goalkeeper and some unbelievable defenders, and I think their efforts tonight shouldn’t go unnoticed.” 

San Diego blew an early 2-0 lead and conceded three in a row to the Ambush to fall behind, but came back to score four of the next five goals in the second half. Leonardo de Oliveira’s goal from the center of the crease at 4:34 of the fourth quarter, on a smooth assist across the top of the box from Nilton de Andrade, staked the Sockers to a 6-4 lead. Christian Briggs finished his hat trick for St. Louis with 2:08 left in the quarter to raise the drama, but San Diego used stout defense to see out the final minutes and take a series lead back to Frontwave. Luiz Morales, Charlie Gonzalez and Cesar Cerda all scored goals for San Diego, while forward Tavoy Morgan overcame a rough shooting night to post a pair of assists.  

Cerda has been taking charge of the Sockers’ field play more and more since being named captain after a season-ending injury to longtime captain Kraig Chiles, and he initiated the first goal of the match with assertive play. After barking directions jumping off the bench, Cerda sent a slick pass up the left seam to Tavoy Morgan, who turned to his right foot and found his shot blocked to the left. Rushing in to find the rebound was Cerda, who had tracked the play all the way and slotted home the ball from left wing inside the right post at 5:22 of the first quarter for a 1-0 lead.  

“Everyone was on the same page tonight,” said Cerda, who added four blocked shots to his two-way effort, “We kept up our concentration all game, no matter if we were ahead or behind, and in the end we got more goals than they did, and that’s all that matters.” 

The Sockers doubled their advantage with the first playoff goal for Perera since the 2011 PASL championship, receiving a cross-field pass from Sebastian Mendez on right mid-wall and turning toward net before putting his laces through a half-volley that violently crashed with the left post and into the net at 10:12 to make it 2-0. With just over three minutes left in the quarter, the Ambush pestered the net and forced the Sockers into multiple defensive stands, with Toth making the first save, then both Peewee Ortega and Mitchell Cardenas clearing secondary chances off the line to keep the Ambush off the board.  

The last minute of the quarter gave the St. Louis home crowd and their club a chance to get back into the match and into their confidence. Coming out of a steal deep in the defensive zone, St. Louis defender Robert Williamson sent the ball diagonally forward to Daniel Torrealba, who raced in on right wing and unleashed a remarkable blast from near the yellow line, twisting inside near post and past a diving Toth at 14:13, cutting the San Diego lead to 2-1 at the end of the quarter. The Ambush outshot the Sockers 9-8.  

Gaining confidence and energy from the late and great goal, St. Louis pushed up their intensity and defensive pressure, turning over the Sockers multiple times in the opening five minutes of the second quarter but finding only blocked shots or the gloves of Toth. The middle five minutes of the frame saw San Diego reassert their tempo and control, but Eduardo “Pollo” Cortez came up big with four saves in a three-minute span. Then, with 4:10 remaining in the second quarter, Sockers defender Stefan Mijatovic bumped Torrealba in the attacking left corner, and he sold a boarding foul well, earning his team a power play with the first blue card of the match.  

The Ambush converted late in the man advantage, as defender Jeff Michaud found room at the top of the crease and slotted a rolling pass on left wing to who else but Torrealba, who knocked home his second of the night at 12:35 to tie the match 2-2. San Diego had one more chance before the half was over when Tavoy Morgan was sprung free on a pass into the left wing, but he could not time a proper shot and scuffed the ball into Cortes’ hands to keep the match square. Cortes was credited with nine saves on eleven shots in the first half, and the match remained tied 2-2 into the halftime locker room.  

The start of the third quarter predicted a frame of action, as both teams put heavy pressure on the net. Mario Falsone’s twisting shot was warded off by Toth at the end of the fourth minute, and in the sixth minute, the Sockers hit a pair of pieces of the goal frame, as defender Drew Ruggles struck just above the crossbar on a set piece play, and Leo followed with a rocket shot that caromed off the right post. As the action continued the other way, the Ambush’s John Gates worked the middle of the field and laid off a pass to Briggs on the far post, who slotted his first goal of the night into the left-side netting at 5:51 for a 3-2 St. Louis lead.  

San Diego answered back quickly, earning a free kick in the low right corner and turning the job over to Perera. The MASL’s all-time third-leading scorer paused to bait the wall into movement, then key-holed a perfect shot into the top-left corner at 7:18 for his second of the night and a 3-3 tie. Less than three minutes later, the Ambush gained their last lead of the night, as Briggs’ shot from outside on the right wing deflected off a Sockers defender and reverse-spun past Toth’s near post at 9:58 for a 4-3 St. Louis advantage. Twenty-six seconds later, the match was tied again at 4-4, as Morgan ripped a toe-poke shot off the right Ambush post, and the ball rebounded out to Luiz Morales, who calmly passed the ball into the net for his first goal of the playoff at 10:24. 

The final goal of the third period came courtesy of an offensive zone set piece won after a hard run by de Andrade, who took on two defenders and drew a whistle on the left wing. The Sockers trotted out their set-piece lineup and found joy, as Nick Perera faked one direction to an overlapping runner before rolling a pass across the defense to Charlie Gonzalez, who used a quick release to send a searing shot inside the right post at 12:08 for a 5-4 Sockers lead. Leonardo de Oliveira and Briggs traded goals in the fourth quarter, but San Diego’s defense was able to hold firm in the closing nervous moments to put the Sockers one step away from a repeat trip to the Finals.  

The advantage is now firmly in San Diego’s hands, as the two teams travel on Saturday to California. Sunday at Frontwave Arena, the Sockers have two opportunities to move on to the Ron Newman Cup Finals: either to beat the Ambush in the regulation 60-minute Match Two, or in the 15-minute Knockout Game that would follow in the case of a St. Louis victory. The club will be presented their third-ever MASL Supporters Shield prior to the match to honor the best regular season record in the league. Tickets are available by visiting frontwavearena.com or sdsockers.com.