Sockers Claim MASL Shield With OT Win

On a night when the Sockers’ long-time captain was honored for his 17 years of service to the team, the current captain played the role of franchise savior and lifted his team to a first-place finish. 

Cesar Cerda scored the golden goal 1:09 into sudden-death overtime as the San Diego Sockers came from behind to beat the Kansas City Comets, 5-4, on Sunday afternoon at Frontwave Arena. The Sockers clinched a first-round bye in the Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) playoffs, then waited for the result of St. Louis and Empire from Ontario. As soon as the match between the Ambush and Strykers went to overtime, San Diego could celebrate the third MASL Shield in franchise history.  

A crowd of 3,643 came to the arena to cheer the Sockers and honor Kraig Chiles, who had announced prior to the start of the season that this would be his 17th and final year. Chiles took a knee injury two weeks ago that kept him confined to a bench coaching role, but he was surrounded by family and former teammates for an emotional pre-match ceremony.  

The Sockers (16-6-2, 44 points) then won for the third straight time in overtime, with current captain Cerda providing the heroics once again. Coming off a four-assist performance Friday in Kansas City, including on the equalizer and golden goal, Cerda again assisted on the leveling score, setting up Nick Perera’s power play goal at 4:47 of the fourth quarter. In overtime, Cerda sent a pass to Leonardo de Oliveira on the offensive right wing, then ran down the middle of the floor toward the net. Leo sent the pass back to Cerda, who hit a curling one-time smash into the left side netting for the match winner. 

“It is an awesome feeling,” said Cerda, “At the end of the day, it’s a team effort, and I got to put (the winning goal) in.” 

As Chiles was being honored pre-match, one team was left to stand and wait: the Kansas City Comets (12-6-6, 40 points). The old “ceremony penalty”, which is common in hockey, came to bite the Sockers in the opening minute of the match, as MVP candidate Rian Marques dribbled in on the right wing under pressure and bounced a pass off the goal wall. Goalkeeper Chris Toth (9-of-13 saves) tried to clear with a toe-poke, but the ball came directly back to Marques like a pass, and he finished the second time for his 29th goal and a 1-0 lead at 0:57.  

For the remainder of the quarter, the Sockers controlled the action, out-shooting the Comets 8-2. Nicolau Neto was strong in goal for the Comets, and the lead held until the 14th minute, when Morgan took matters into his own feet. Working against the north wall boards, Morgan first stole the ball from a KC defender, then tip-toed a side-wall pass to himself, creating a shooting lane. As Neto came out to challenge, Morgan then wall-passed again, this time back to himself off the goal wall and around the keeper before shooting into an empty net at 13:39. Morgan extended his goal-scoring streak to six straight matches, and the game was tied 1-1 after fifteen minutes.  

Morgan had the crowd back to their feet immediately as the second quarter began. Picking off a slightly errant pass at midfield, Morgan took one long touch forward then launched a blistering shot from behind the yellow line that smashed into the top netting at 0:24. Morgan’s 17th of the season had San Diego ahead 2-1, but the Comets got a quick answer on the counter-attack three minutes later, as Dominic Francis led a 2-v-1 with David Stankovic. Francis’s initial shot-pass was warded over to the far post, but Stankovic was there to clean it up at 3:20, tying the match 2-2.  

The Sockers regained the lead on some team stick-to-it determined play. A loose ball at midfield was stolen by Nilton de Andrade, recovered by the Comets’ Lucas Souza, and re-stolen by Jesus Pacheco of the Sockers, who sent his team forward. Pacheco sent a right-wing rolling pass across the goal cease to de Andrade, who used one sole roll with his right foot before poking home his sixth goal in seven matches with San Diego, putting the Sockers ahead 3-2. With each team hitting a post during the remainder of the half, the one-goal advantage held until halftime.  

The third quarter put a surprising recent Sockers weakness on full display, and put San Diego on the back foot once again. After having the league’s best penalty kill unit for 22 games, the Sockers found themselves helpless to prevent Kansas City from scoring with the man advantage. As such, preventing penalties was paramount, but for the third straight match, the Sockers instead delivered a self-inflicted wound in the form of a penalty for too many men on the floor. The sloppy change of personnel gave the Comets the ball at their foot and a two-minute man advantage. It took them less than a minute to score a simple goal, as Marques held the ball in the middle of the crease, back to goal, and slid a pass to his left to the unmarked Dominic Francis. The British winger had an easy tap-in on the back post at 3:06 for his 20th goal of the season, and a 3-3 tie.  

Less than two minutes later, Comets head coach Stefan Stokic saw his chance to make a mark on the match. When San Diego defender Mitchell Cardenas put a shoulder into the back of Rian Marques and sent the forward into the boards, a common foul was called. Stokic threw his challenge flag to find a blue card and was rewarded on review with another power play. Once again, Kansas City methodically broke down the Sockers penalty kill unit, with Marques this time spotting Zach Reget on the back post for a nearly identical goal, and a 4-3 Kansas City lead at 6:05 of the quarter. 

The fourth quarter was relentless pressure from San Diego and relentless defense from Kansas City. The Sockers outshot the Comets 11-0 in the quarter, but continued to be stymied by blocked shots and solid defense. Then, with 11:28 remaining, it was Kansas City’s turn to take a boarding penalty, with Junior Kazeem sent to the penalty box. The Sockers power play converted, as Cerda worked his way to the top of the crease before sliding a pass to Nick Perera on his left. As Perera shot the ball, Comets keeper Nicolau Neto (14-of-18 saves) crumpled due to a knee hyperextension. Regular starter Phillip Ejimadu entered the match and played the rest of the way. San Diego got a second play when Lesia Thetsane was whistled for four fouls in the half, but the Sockers could not convert their chance, and the match went to sudden-death overtime, where Cerda’s heroics helped the club reach first place and earn home-field advantage throughout the Ron Newman Cup playoffs.  

San Diego now gets to enjoy a bye week to recover and mend injuries, while the third-through-sixth teams battled in the opening round of the playoffs. The Sockers will face the lowest-seeded remaining team in a three-game series, with the first game played away, and the second game (and deciding mini-game if needed) played at Frontwave Arena on April 19th. Playoff strips are available for sale now at frontwavearena.com and sdsockers.com.