All photos courtesy Aaron Jaffe
ANAHEIM–The Sockers (and their many fans) came, they saw, and they conquered.
Turning the Anaheim Convention Center into a home away from home, San Diego Sockers fans arrived by the busload before the game and left cheering their team’s 26th consecutive win, a 10-5 decision over the Anaheim Bolts which officially clinches the PASL Western Division for the third straight year. The Sockers (12-0) absorbed the Bolts’ best punch in the first quarter, then rolled out five straight goals to cruise to victory in front of an announced crowd of 1,826.
“I knew we would have the one corner of fans, but it seemed like we had fans throughout the whole arena,” said defender Scotty Martin.
The Sockers were bolstered by a huge turnout from their fans (standing behind the team during the national anthem)
The Sockers are gaining fans wherever they go, which is natural when you consider they haven’t lost for 13 months straight. With 26 wins in a row overall, 13 straight road wins and 20 straight in the PASL regular season (both league records), San Diego’s indoor champs are maintaining a level of dominance which is rarely seen at any level of sport.
“We’re taking it one game at a time but it’s important for us to keep our streaks alive,” said midfielder Brian Farber, who was high point man for the Sockers on Friday night with two goals and three assists, “More important, we’re keeping our goal on track which right now is to have an unblemished record.”
Speaking of goals: league MVP Kraig Chiles potted three more, adding an assist for a four-point night (and a 55-point season through 12 games). With 38 goals on the year, Chiles is two shy of current Anaheim head coach Bernie Lilavois’ league record of 40 in the PASL regular season. Kraig is also sitting on 99 career PASL goals entering Saturday night’s home contest against Tijuana.
Chris Toth played his best game of the year with 20 saves, including a shootout stop
Those are the MVP point totals and gaudy stats, all of which are important and valuable. But from Chiles to Farber and down the line, Sockers players credited their goalkeeper and defense for Friday’s win over the Bolts. Chris Toth (3-0) made his second straight start in place of Riley Swift in goal, as Swift works through advanced firefighter training for Cal Forest in Sacramento. On this night Toth was at his best, making 20 saves and executing several artful outlet passes which could have turned into goals.
Farber lamented two perfect set-ups by Toth which he was unable to convert.
“I told (Chris) if he keeps throwing me the ball, I’ll get him some points.”
One of the three new Gonzalez brothers tries to kick around Eddie Velez
The Bolts (3-7), who have lost five straight, gathered for a last stand of sorts on Friday night. Many of their veterans who had been away from the team returned to face the Sockers, and head coach Bernie Lilavois signed a trio of players named Gonzalez (two twins, one no relation, all futsal players from San Jose) to fortify their lineup. With Juan, Felipe and Osbaldo Gonzalez in the starting fourteen, the Bolts took three different one-goal leads in the first quarter. None of the Gonzalez-es figured in the scoring however, with Paul Wright (free kick), Rafael Gaytan and Enrique Tovar each lighting the lamp.
San Diego answered back on each occasion, leveling the score on a pretty header by Diego Rovira and Chiky Luna’s power play goal, then a free kick goal from Kraig Chiles. When the first quarter ended tied 3-3, the Sockers had withstood Anaheim’s best punch with plenty left to deliver.
“The first quarter in these rivalry games is always going to be high intensity, high emotion,” said Chiles, “We slowed the game down and dictated the tempo in the second quarter and started to spread them out.”
Velez was able to control the game from the defensive backfield with his effort and skill
With a slightly smaller playing surface (which included twelve missing panels of glass in the corners and lumpy turf which came up at many seams), a ball won in the backfield could quickly turn into a counter-attack the other way. In this respect, Eduardo Velez shined as a primary difference-maker for San Diego. The PASL points leader last year as a forward with Tijuana, Velez accepted a secondary role coming to the Sockers as a midfielder, then volunteered to move to the back line after injuries ripped through the defender corps. On Friday, Velez out-worked the Bolts attackers time after time, winning balls which turned into speedy counters and outmanned attacks.
“We call him our little Bash Bro now,” said Martin, lofty praise indeed for a member of the ‘Bash Brothers’, “(Eddie’s) a wiry guy who can take a lot of punishment and dish some out too.”
Brian Farber scored his 20th and 21st goals of the season and added three assists for a game-best five points
With Velez and Majell Aterado bringing the ball out of the back with speed, Brian Farber was set up to have a big game. Farber set up two of the prettiest goals of the season in the second quarter, both with Chiles as his end target. First Farber cut a pass back to Chiles with 9:45 remaining to cap a counter-attack and give San Diego a 4-3 lead. Then, after Anthony Medina outworked the Anaheim defense to win back a loose ball and score from the left wall, the Sockers came together on what is clearly their goal of the year to date.
It started with Velez winning a ball away from the Bolts, “wrestling it away from the guy” as Martin described it just outside the crease. Velez turned to the far wall and sped forward with two quick touches, firing a perfect pass ahead to Aterado. Majell came in on goal with Farber running to the back post and Chiles the near. Faking one way, Aterado cut his pass instead to Farber, who then back-heeled the ball on one touch to Chiles for the easy tuck-in and a 6-3 lead.
“It’s fun to score good goals in front of all our fans,” said Chiles.
Lead official Kia Depenah, Bolts forward Enrique Tovar and Sockers midfielder Brian Farber all team up to try and fix the lumpy turf in Anaheim
“Majell played me the perfect ball and it happened just like I imagined it would,” said Farber, who had tried a similar play earlier in the year only to have a defender spoil the fun.
Martin and the Sockers bench bounced up and down in celebration, while Eric Wunderle (two goals, one assist) had a more clinical assessment: “Textbook.”
Kraig Chiles shoots for one of his three goals on the night. Chiles has 99 career PASL goals and is two shy of the single-season record of 40.
San Diego could have easily scored eight to ten more goals in the game. San Diego hit seven posts (three by Velez alone in an unlucky shooting night) and Bolts keeper Jesus Molina stood tall in the second half to reject a number of Sockers breakaways, short-handed bids and point blank shots.
Meanwhile, a heavy whistle by the officiating crew of Kia Depaneh and Kelly Mock, undoubtedly influenced by the two teams’ last matchup (which included a fourth quarter brawl), led to a night filled with fouls and power plays. The Bolts received the primary benefit of the whistle with seven power plays, of which San Diego killed five including the last four straight. Diego Rovira, Ze Roberto, Velez and Farber used their speed and quickness to confound the slower and less fit Bolts.
“We’re all working for each other,” said Chiles, who had a good view of the penalty kill unit from the box, where he served most of San Diego’s team penalties, “When you’ve got Eddie and Diego coming out of the back with speed, look out.”
When the Sockers’ back line made an uncharacteristic mistake, Chris Toth was there to bail them out. After Roberto was called for a tripping penalty in the crease and a shootout, Toth stopped Adriano de Lima’s hesitant advance with a dive and punch-out between the feet, knocking the penalty shot aside to preserve a 9-4 lead.
Chris Toth's confidence as keeper permeated the Sockers defense
“Chris is the man!” exclaimed Martin, “He stepped up big tonight on a number of occasions. Sometimes I almost wanted to let my man shoot because I knew he would make the save and we could jump on the counter-attack.”
Farber credited Toth’s youthful confidence as a booster for the entire team.
“The thing about Chris is, he’s really confident that he knows he’s a really good goalie,” said Farber of Toth, “Some players can be confident, but their confidence is shaken really easily when they give up a goal or play bad defense. Nobody gets scared (with Chris in goal) because we feed off the confidence he has in himself, and then we move forward.”
While the Bolts are left to wonder if they will be stuck eating their head coach/owner’s preseason promise of free season tickets next year to all their current season ticket holders if the team fails to make the playoffs, San Diego knows they have the fan base to help fill Anaheim’s house any time they come north to play. The fervency of Sockers fans does not go unnoticed by the team, as each player pointed out not only how the fans helped power the team’s effort on the night but also their resolve to perform at the highest level.
Sockers fans dominated one side of the arena and were scattered throughout
“We’re thrilled to have all that support and we know we have die-hard fans,” said Chiles, “We play for them, really. It’s why I put this jersey on and play for this team, to play for them and for this city.”
“Most teams (in this league) don’t have any fans that travel,” said Wunderle, “Our fans are #1 in my book.”
The Sockers move ahead to the next night and the next game, taking on the resurgent Revolucion Tijuana side at the Del Mar Arena at 7:05pm. Tijuana defeated Arizona 12-3 on Friday night to run their record to 7-4, with Cesar “The Joker” Romero scoring four more goals. Romero has 31 goals in 6 games and is already threatening Chiles’ spot atop the goals list. 619Sports.Net will have live streaming video and audio coverage from the DMA starting at 7pm, in a simulcast with ESPN Radio 1700. It’s “Ball Night”, with the first 250 kids aged 14 and under receiving a new Sockers soccer ball.
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