The Sockers' Diego Rovira celebrates a first quarter goal

Indoor Soccer News: SD Sockers Escape Kansas’ Magic 9-6

Young soccer players are always reminded to play both halves of a match. Failure to do just that almost resulted in the San Diego Sockers losing to the Kansas Magic in the second game of the PASL semifinal playoffs at Del Mar Arena on Friday, March 9. The final 9-6 score was misleading as the visitors from the Eastern Division never let down through four quarters, scoring five goals in the second half to turn a San Diego romp into a true nail biter.

The game started slow, with both teams feeling out unfamiliar opponents. Finally in the ninth minute two-time PASL MVP Kraig Chiles fired a shot that got by Kansas goalkeeper Jason Jacob for an unassisted goal. Two minutes later Diego Rovira took a feed from Chiky Luna and scored the second goal of the period.

The second quarter opened with the Sockers on the attack, taking the opening start down the field into Kansas territory. Majell Aterado connected with Brian Farber, who netted San Diego’s third goal at the 23 second mark. Then shortly before the two minute mark Chiles set up Anthony Medina for a quick 4-0 lead. In the ninth minute Aterado assisted again, this time on an Aaron Susi goal. But Kansas was not out, and Kyle Brown scored less than 10 seconds later, with the assist going to Brett Porter.

San Diego celebrates an early lead in the PASL semifinal match

With a 5-1 lead at the half, it looked as if the Sockers would easily walk through the semifinal match on the way to the finals against Detroit Waza, who had defeated Revolución Tijuana in the first game. It took less than 30 seconds after the start of the second half for Luna to score one of his own, with Rovira returning the favor from earlier. Brown scored a second time for the Magic in the seventh minute, but Nate Hetherington got the point back on an unassisted goal less than a minute later. When Matt Germain netted an unassisted goal in the ninth minute to bring Kansas to 7-3 it seemed only a small bump in an otherwise smooth road. Instead, it was a sign of what was to come.

In the fourth quarter the wheels began to wobble on the Sockers bus as Kansas peppered Sockers goal keeper Riley Swift and the San Diego defense. Josh White and Germain scored unassisted goals in the first four minutes to bring Kansas within two goals of tying the match. When Matt Kuhn scored a power play goal at 6:10 of the quarter, Sockers fans began to worry that the unthinkable might possibly happen.

The Kansas comeback should not have been a complete surprise, since the Magic had made it to the semifinals by defeating the heavily favored Louisville Lightning by four goals in Louisville the weekend before. Before the game Sockers’ head coach Phil Salvagio had pointed out that the Magic could be a dangerous opponent. “They know how to pack it in,” he had commented.

Sockers' goalie Riley Swift punches out a Kansas shot

San Diego finally regained composure in the waning minutes and began to press the attack, going to their strength of control and timing. Slowly the clock ticked down and it appeared that the Sockers would squeak by with a one-goal victory. Then with only 22 seconds left on the clock, Kansas goalie Jacob seemed to lose his temper, coming far out of the goal to blindside Ze Roberto who was dropping back with the ball to reset the Sockers attack. The action set off an altercation that resulted in Jacob being given a blue card for pushing and a red card for violent conduct and the Sockers’ Aterado receiving a violent conduct red card as well.

When the had dust finally settled the Sockers were awarded a penalty shoot-out against the Magic’s Randall Porter, taking over for the ousted Jacob. Chiles easily handled the duty, putting the Sockers up by two with 22 seconds still on the clock. Seconds later Farber took advantage of the situation to add one last insurance goal for the 9-6 final score.

After the game several Sockers talked about the game and the final quarter letdown. “It was a good game,” said Chiles. “We knew this team would be defensively sound and they gave us a good run for our money. It is the playoffs and anything can happen. We’re lucky to kind of sneak out with the win.”

“We kind of changed up our game plan in the fourth quarter and it didn’t necessarily work,” Chiles continued, “so we switched back. Indoor is a game of flow and momentum and they kind of took over momentum in the fourth quarter. Luckily we had a little bit of a lead and we were able to hang on to it.”

The Sockers' Chiky Luna scores in heavy traffic

Sockers’ captain Susi put it somewhat more bluntly, saying “We played three good quarters and we played one horrible quarter. We have to clean that up. If we’re going to get a lead we have to hold the lead; we can’t let teams get back in like that. We got lax, we didn’t play good team defense and they finished their chances.”

Sockers general manager John Kentera gave Kansas credit for bringing their best game to the match. “I thought we played pretty well early. I thought we lost our focus a little bit; that’s not too typical of our club, but it also says a lot about Kansas. They continued to play hard; they’re very talented. We jumped on them early but they kept playing well and they came back in the second half.”

“For a first year team in our league I think Kansas did very well,” Kentera said, “and they should be proud of what they accomplished. They have a lot of skilled players and several big, strong, physical guys. Even though we jumped on them early they didn’t panic, they continued to play hard and they played together. They didn’t fight among themselves like you see some teams do when we frustrate them and score a bunch of goals early. They worked together and they should be proud of how far they’ve come.”

On Saturday night the Sockers will take on Detroit, who defeated Tijuana 9-7, in the PASL Championship game. It will be the first meeting between the two teams, and both were eager to scope out their competition during the semifinals.

“We got a feel for Detroit during their game with Tijuana,” said Salvagio. “They’re big and strong, but I think we’re quicker and we’re going to use that to our advantage.”

“Detroit has a lot of veterans from the old MISL and they know how to play,” said Kentera. “They’ve played a lot together just like we have.”

Two tough, veteran teams will meet at the Del Mar Arena to compete for the first Ron Newman Cup. It promises to be an exciting game as the Sockers continue their march toward a perfect season and Detroit looks to end that streak and put their name on the top of the PASL.

Related Article: San Diego Sockers Beat Kansas in PASL Semi Final

All Photo Credit: Stephen Prendergast for SoccerNation