Sockers Win, Finish 12-0 At Home

A record crowd of 4,928 at Frontwave Arena (previous high was 4,643 on 3/22/25) watched the San Diego Sockers (20-4-0, 56, 2nd) down the Tacoma Stars (10-11-3, 32, 9th) 7-2 to secure second place and finish undefeated at their new home in Oceanside. With the loss, Tacoma missed out on getting a postseason berth.    

Tacoma, in need of a regulation win to make the postseason, started on a good foot with a Nick Perera spin-around chip-in goal from inside the arc. Michael Ramos had the assist at 6:03. Kraig Chiles equalized for San Diego when he collected a loose ball inside the box and powered home a blast at 11:04. The initial shot came from Luis Morales, which was blocked and caromed inside the box. Chiles has a goal and a point in 13 of his last 14 games. Cesar Cerda’s uncharacteristic giveaway in front of the goal led to an easy Kyle Rivers tap-in goal at 13:58. Only 24 seconds later, Sebastian Mendez scored from a tough-angled shot from the left side into the side netting to level the match at 2-2. Leo De Oliveira was credited with the helper. 

The second period did not see a goal until 14:55 when Charlie Gonzalez sent a three-quarters field length shot over the head of the Stars’ goalkeeper Chris Toth into the open goal after he sent an errant ball into the midfield. Gonzalez has now scored a point in 19 of his last 21 matches. San Diego took a 3-2 lead into the intermission.

The Stars could not take advantage of a power-play opportunity late in the third, and the period would end with the Sockers holding a 3-2 advantage. 

A San Diego bench penalty allowed Tacoma to start the final quarter with the man-advantage, but the Stars failed to convert again to keep the score 3-2 with 13 minutes remaining. Chiles began the ending of Tacoma’s playoff hopes with a “wallascora” goal from Drew Ruggles on a free kick at 9:01. With the Stars pressing, Christian Gutierrez added two markers at 9:33 and 11:33 to extend San Diego’s advantage to 6-2. Gabriel Costa’s long-distance goal put the nail in the coffin at 12:28.

Boris Pardo returned from injury to make the start and finish with three saves on five shots in earning his 12th win of the season. Danny Waltman played the second half against his former team and made seven saves, while not allowing a goal.  

Eddie Velez, who was playing in his 100th career MASL contest, was honored for his retirement during a pre-game ceremony. “El Vaquero” has played 19 seasons and earned four rings with the Sockers.

The Sockers will play their bitter SoCal rival Empire Strykers in a single-elimination MASL Ron Newman Cup Playoff quarterfinal match on Friday, April 4, 7:35pm at Frontwave Arena. Tickets for all MASL Playoff games between April 4-6 are available at AXS.com, FrontwaveArena.com, or SDSockers.com/tickets.