San Diego Sockers strutted their stuff against Pacific Division rival Tacoma Stars. Playing in front of 3,615 fans, Sockers banged in nine goals against 2015-16 MASL Goalkeeper of the Year Danny Waltman and only gave up three goals on the night. The Sockers 9-3 victory gives them a 1.5 game lead in the division and a 2-1 head-to-head advantage.
The game flew by in the first quarter with very little action. It wasn’t until 24 seconds left in the quarter until the deadlock was broken when Tacoma Stars defender Troy Peterson fired in the opening goal.
Then the game changed. Sockers looked to press the backline hard and were rewarded when Brandon Escoto blocked a Danny Waltman outlet pass. Escoto had a neat interchange of passes with Captain Kraig Chiles who blasted his shot into the roof of the net to tie the game.
The Sockers forced two more poor outlet passes from GK Waltman in the second period to take a commanding 3-1 lead. Brian Farber and Luan Oliviera capitalized with their only goals of the night, with Oliviera scoring from the half field line.
After the break, Tacoma looked to get back into the game and score a momentum-shifting goal. However, it was not meant to be. Sockers midfielder Matt Clare absolutely blasted a volley into the upper corner of Waltman’s goal to deflate the Stars hopes.
The fourth quarter was more of the Sockers dominating play. If you looked away you would have missed a goal. Sockers scored five with Tacoma only scoring two consolation goals. Erick Tovar, Anthony Medina, Touloute (2) and Clare rounded out the scoring in the fourth quarter.
Tacoma Stars’ Chase Hansen and Nick Cashmere rounded out the scoring. Stars GK Danny Waltman had 12 saves from the Sockers 21 shots.
The Sockers hope to continue the rich vein of form versus the MASL’s top team Soles de Sonora. Tomorrow the Stars travel to face the potent Dallas Sidekicks, while the Sockers travel south of the border to face Soles de Sonora in Hermosillo, Mexico.
You can catch all the Sockers game live on MASLtv YouTube live stream vs. Sonora starting at 6 p.m.
