The San Diego Sockers are one win away from their 16th championship along with back to back Ron Newman Cup trophies as they play game two of the finals against the Florida Tropics at Pechanga Arena San Diego on Sunday, May 8.

The Sockers are in this position thanks to a gritty comeback in the semifinal round against the Chihuahua Savage and a 6-3 game one finals win on Monday night against the Tropics at RP Funding Center in Lakeland, Fla.

San Diego has had many players step up all season, but perhaps the most notable are goalkeeper Boris Pardo who was recently named to the Elite 6 MASL First Team and captain Kraig Chiles who is tied for the lead in scoring during the postseason.

“We were coming in trying to keep it close,” said San Diego Sockers head coach Phil Salvagio after the win on Monday. “They’ve got a lot of firepower, so we wanted to keep the score down and just have a chance in the end to be there.”

Salvagio is currently in his 13th season with the team, which is one short of Ron Newman who set the franchise record at the helm from 1980 to 1994. The Sockers had a 22-game winning streak this season, which came to an end after the overtime loss in game one of the semifinal round against Chihuahua, but were able to bounce back after defeating the Savage in game two along with coming out on top in the third and deciding game both played at home.

The team moved to Pechanga Arena, the original home of the MISL Sockers, for the 2012–2013 season after playing at the Del Mar Fairgrounds since 2009 and will be moving into CaliFino Arena in Oceanside once it opens for the 2023 season. The Sockers still hold the record for the longest winning streak in United States professional soccer history that spanned 48 games from Dec. 29 of 2010 to Jan. 27, 2013.

Game two of the finals versus the Florida Tropics is scheduled for 5:05 p.m. on May 8 at Pechanga Arena San Diego.