The San Diego Sockers will defend the MASL Ron Newman Cup title after a dramatic comeback over the Chihuahua Savage in front of the home fans on Sunday night at Pechanga Arena winning the second game of the semifinal round 6-2 followed up a 4-1 victory in the 15-minute deciding game sending the team to the finals against the Florida Tropics.
San Diego needed to win both matches in order to qualify for the championship round after losing game one to the Savage 7-6 in overtime on April 18 in Chihuahua.
“We knew it would be a different game on a bigger field here,” said San Diego Sockers goalkeeper Boris Pardo. “The boys showed a lot of character in the locker room to stay calm and just work out the things we needed to do.”
The Sockers drew first blood in game two courtesy of Juan Carlos Gonzalez and extended the lead to 2-0 courtesy of Luis Ortega, which they took to halftime. The visitors tied the game with back-to-back goals in the third quarter only to see San Diego go on a four-goal run to end the game from Felipe Gonzalez, Kraig Chiles, Christian Gutierrez, and Tavoy Morgan.
After a brief intermission, both teams stepped onto the field of play in more time for the deciding match with the Sockers once again drawing first blood courtesy of Gutierrez.
After Chihuahua tied the game a minute later, San Diego once again closed strong thanks to a run that saw them score three goals in the span of fewer than five minutes first by Brandon Escoto followed up by two goals from teammate Ismael Rojo to seal the deal.
As for the team they will face in the finals, the Florida Tropics earned their trip to the championship round in a similar fashion having lost game one of the semifinals to the Kansas City Comets only to rebound and come out with the victory in the second game 4-2 forcing the subsequent 15-minute period that Florida also won 4-2.
The Sockers and Tropics faced each other only once during the regular season on March 31 with San Diego coming out on top 11-4. The time and date for game one of the finals in Lakeland, Fla. are yet to be determined and game two is scheduled for Sunday, May 8 at Pechanga Arena San Diego.
