Sockers Fall In Tacoma 5-4

KENT, WA—Tyler John and Jamael Cox scored fourth-quarter goals and the Tacoma Stars held off a furious comeback attempt, as the San Diego Sockers dropped a 5-4 result on Sunday night at accesso ShoWare Center in Kent, Washington. The Sockers (3-2-1, 10 points) finished a three-match week with six of nine possible points, bowing only in a weekend back-to-back that forced the team into same-day travel all the way up the Pacific coast. Luiz Morales scored a pair of goals in a losing effort for San Diego.  

After beating the Empire Strykers in a hard-fought home match on Saturday night, the Sockers gathered at their team offices for a 4:00am bus ride to the airport and a pre-dawn flight to the Pacific Northwest to play their third match in six days. The club wasn’t settled into their hotel until about 12:00pm, and left less than three hours later to the arena to take on the Stars. Veterans Kraig Chiles and Leonardo de Oliveira did not make the trip, opening up two roster spots for rookies Adrian Reyes and Andrew Estrella to make their MASL debuts.  

With the match tied 3-3 after three quarters, the fresher and faster Stars (4-1, 12 points) were able to exert control and gain a two-goal lead. Tyler John and Jamael Cox each executed standing tap-in goals in front of the net as the San Diego defense evaporated around stalwart goalkeeper Boris Pardo, who stopped 8-of-12 shots and, in doing so recorded his 2,000th career MASL save. The 41-year-old veteran started all three matches in the week after teammate Chris Toth suffered a broken finger in practice.  

With 8:26 to play in the final period, Stars keeper Luis Birrueta (12-of-16 saves) had to leave the match with a leg injury, replaced by 44-year-old veteran backup (and Sockers keeper in the 2025 playoffs) Danny Waltman. San Diego upped their attack, and Morales blasted home his second goal of the night and fourth of the season in a sixth-attacker situation at 9:14 of the fourth, pulling the Sockers within a single goal. The final three minutes saw San Diego continued to pressure the net and threaten to tie, but Tacoma was able to see out the final horn and tie their franchise record for best start in a season. 

Within the context of both travel and an injured list that ran ten players deep, it was unsurprising to see San Diego’s five-match streak of scoring the first goal come to an end on Sunday. Just over four minutes into the contest, Alex Caceres sent a long ball into the attacking left corner for Tyler John, who sent a goal-wall pass into the crease for the onrushing Adrian Correa, who was guarded wide on his shot attempt. Nonetheless, the rebound came back into the crease for Jamael Cox, who was on the spot to knock the ball home just inside the right post at 4:19 for his third goal of the season, and a 1-0 lead for Tacoma.   

The pressure only ramped up for the visitors as San Diego’s leading scorer, Charlie Gonzalez, was shown a blue card for a trip on Kyle Rivers, putting the Stars on the power play. The Sockers successfully defended their tenth penalty kill of the season, surviving a Josh Spence shot wide as Tacoma’s best overall chance. Moments later, San Diego found the equalizer. Mitchell Cardenas’ long pass forward to Tavoy Morgan was captured by the target forward with his back-to-net in the crease, and he turned his defender in one swift pivot to his left, firing in his second goal in two nights at 11:58 for the equalizer. The match was tied 1-1 after fifteen minutes, with Tacoma out-shooting the Sockers 5-4.  

One of the Sockers’ new faces opened his account early in the second quarter to give San Diego their first lead of the night. Just over three minutes into the frame, Jesus Pacheco’s long pass into the right corner was calmly corralled by Nick Perera, who scooped a pass off the goal wall and into the crease. The ball deflected off the leg of a Stars defender and hopped along the right crease line to the Sockers’ Adrian Reyes, who ran on and slammed home the first goal of his professional career. San Diego led 2-1 at the 3:18 mark.  

The back-and-forth nature of indoor soccer proved itself once again later in the second quarter, as Perera fed Luiz Morales down the middle for a clean chance, kicked away by the sliding keeper Biruetta. The Stars recovered the rebound and worked their way downfield, where consistent pressure around the net led to a bouncing ball between the legs of Adrian Correa. As San Diego sagged and watched, Correa got just enough of a touch on it to send the ball in the direction of Nani Mendoza, who picked it out of the air from the middle of the crease and whipped it inside left post for a 2-2 leveling at 11:24.  

In what felt like a telling sign for the fresh team against the fatigued, the Stars defended back-to-back penalties against the Sockers across the end of the second quarter and the start of the third. Kyle Rivers was shown separate blue cards for two reckless tackles, but a reconfigured power play without Chiles and Leo failed to find the net, with Birrueta authoring a standout aggressive save off his line to block a Morales volley.  

The match turned on a burst of speed from the Stars in the third quarter. In a 2-2 tie, a seemingly harmless pass to the wall in the Stars defensive zone was swept up by defender Khai Brisco, who had open turf between himself and the net. Sockers captain Cesar Cerda came over and slide-tackled Brisco off his feet, leading to a shootout penalty call. Nani Mendoza finished the penalty calmly to give Tacoma a 3-2 lead at 9:51, putting the tiring visitors on the back foot. 

While a clinical set-up from Nick Perera to Luiz Morales off the left elbow allowed San Diego to tie the match 3-3 late in the third quarter at 14:39, the early moments of the fourth saw Tacoma start to stretch their legs and race against San Diego’s tiring defense. For the first two minutes of the final quarter, the Sockers only touched the ball once, and in desperation, as Tacoma had complete possession. A Tyler John back-heel goal attempt went wide of the net, and John asked for a foul on Pardo that was not whistled. The two exchanged words, and the drama would only heat up.  

John’s revenge took less than two minutes. The Stars continued their relentless pressure in the San Diego zone, with three straight parries at net forced wide. As the ball went to the right corner and Manny Nicasio, Pardo stepped out to block the lane while John slipped behind Luiz Morales and in front of an empty net. Nicasio sent the ball back to John, who tapped it in and then had a vocal celebration for San Diego, as Tacoma celebrated a 4-3 lead at 3:56.  

San Diego’s defense went from bad to much worse as the Sockers attacked Tacoma’s zone, only to see a lateral pass attempt sent downfield. Four players were slow to move behind the play, and when Sebastian Mendez’s running sweep tackle attempt came up empty, the Stars were coming in three-on-zero against Pardo’s net. Jamael Cox’s initial back-post pass to John went past him and sent John sliding foot-first into the goal wall empty (leading to more chirping), but Tacoma still had time to collect the rebound.  Three different San Diego players all went at Adrian Correa, but he tucked between them all and found a wide-open Cox in front of an empty net, who finished the touch and then sighed in relief as the Stars celebrated a 5-3 lead at 6:57. Both clubs continued to exchange words, leading to a brief huddle around midfield.  

San Diego’s first road loss of the season kicks off a six-match trip and a month of road work, as the Sockers will be back at the airport later this week to travel cross-country for matches against Baltimore and Utica. San Diego takes on the Blast from Towson University’s SECU Arena on Saturday at 3:00pm PST, before traveling by bus to upstate New York and a Sunday 12:00pm PST kickoff against Utica City FC. Both matches can be viewed on MASL TV on YouTube. The Sockers’ next home match will be February 1 against Tacoma, with tickets on sale at frontwavearena.com or sdsockers.com.