(All photos courtesy Aaron Jaffe)
PHOENIX, AZ–The Sockers are on a roll now, and so is their high-scoring MVP.
Behind another six-point performance from Poway High and SDSU star Kraig Chiles, this time four goals and two assists, the San Diego Sockers easily pushed past a respectful Phoenix Monsoon side 10-3 on Sunday afternoon at the Phoenix Sports Centre. Chiles poured in twelve points during a weekend sweep of Anaheim and Phoenix, finishing with nine goals and three assists as the Sockers ran their PASL record to 7-0 and increased their winning streak to 21 overall.
“This was a huge weekend for us,” said Chiles, “And it starts from the top down. Phil (head coach Phil Salvagio) put us through a lot of work and we had a great week of training. We’re really starting to gel.”
Sunday’s game was a “double”, also counting as the second round of the U.S. Open Cup, and the win advanced the Sockers to the third round against Tacoma. One of San Diego’s upcoming two matches this weekend against the Stars will also count as a “double match”.
The biggest challenge for the Sockers on Sunday came from external challenges, namely a lack of sleep, a youthful roster and extended travel. After playing and beating Anaheim at home on Saturday night the squad gathered before the break of dawn at the Sockers’ team offices in Carlsbad before making the 6 1/2 hour drive to Phoenix, navigating through a dust storm outside Blythe on their way to Arizona. The Sockers made it to Phoenix 2 1/2 hours before the game, playing without starters Riley Swift (thumb), Aaron Susi (ankle), Dan Antoniuk (groin) and Nate Hetherington (hamstring), all of whom protected injuries for precautionary reasons.
The Phoenix Monsoon (1-8) hadn’t played a league game in a month but stayed with the Sockers in the first quarter while the visitors regained their legs. After taking a 2-0 lead, San Diego conceded consecutive goals to tie the action at two, before Brian Farber’s goal on a pass from Chiles with just five seconds remaining in the quarter put the Sockers ahead 3-2.
Jerry Varpilah’s goal with 6:43 remaining in the second quarter brought the Monsoon level once again at 3-3 but it was the last time Phoenix would be heard from in the game. The Monsoon adopted a highly conservative stance throughout the game, generally retreating into their half of the field to try and reduce the Sockers’ scoring chances. With only the rare counter-attack to defend and little defensive pressure to deal with, San Diego had an easy time kicking the ball around and spreading the field to find their chances.
Brian Farber continued his outstanding campaign with two more goals and an assist. Farber has 12 goals and 6 assists on the season, second on the Sockers. (Photo: Aaron Jaffe)
Brian Farber took a ball out from the offensive mid-boards and curled to the top of the penalty area before firing home his second goal of the day and 12th of the season, putting San Diego ahead for good at the 5:50 mark of the second quarter. Phoenix then gave the Sockers a lovely gift for all their trouble, walking an own goal into their net for a 5-3 San Diego lead. Eric Wunderle’s attempted backheel pass to Majell Aterado got caught in the legs of Monsoon defender Nicholas Barraza, who hopelessly stumbled into his own net with the ball trapped between his feet.
The gift goal for Wunderle capped a fine weekend for the former Poway and USD star, who had four goals and three assists over the two games. After scoring early in the Anaheim game, Wunderle’s confidence and production soared. Eric admitted on Monday that a mental boost can be big for his game.
“Confidence is huge for me,” said Wunderle, “I’m a ‘bubble guy’ who plays for both the Sockers and the Reserves team, so any time I score a couple of goals for the Sockers it helps raise my confidence a lot. I couldn’t have done anything this weekend though without the players around me. I got some great balls from my teammates and obviously I can’t get an assist unless Kraig (Chiles) scores the way he does.”
Chiles’ scoring is making the indoor soccer world take notice. With 23 goals and 12 assists (35 points) in seven games, Kraig is just 15 points from his career best of 50 set last year, with nine league games still in hand. At five points average per game Chiles is on pace for an 80 point season, which would shatter Bernie Lilavois’ 2008-2009 league record of 68.
After spending two years primarily as a finisher, Chiles’ summer with the U.S. Futsal National Team his increased his field awareness and passing ability. Twelve assists already matches his career season-high and it’s clear that facilitating his teammates’ success is also bringing the ball back to his feet.
“Without a doubt the passing game is helping my scoring,” said Chiles, “The past two years I was disappointed in my assist totals. This year I want to have half as many assists as I do goals. It keeps (defenses) honest, gets me more confident and gets our team into a good flow.”
Wunderle agrees.
Eric Wunderle excelled all weekend long, with four goals and three assists in two games (Photo: Aaron Jaffe)
“Teams know (Chiles) and have him marked, and he’s still putting up those kind of points…it shows you how hard a worker he is and he’s learned how to better use his teammates to help him score. He’s seeing things, giving the ball off more and we help him.”
The second half was played with a much different feel than the Anaheim game, as the Monsoon were content to recognize their place in the standings and not contest the Sockers physically. As such, San Diego was called for only five team fouls over the course of the 60-minute game, leaving the Monsoon without a single power play.
The Sockers, meanwhile, capitalized on a number of free kick chances set up by the unusual field configuration at the Phoenix Sports Centre. The game was played on a brand new turf which was softer and cushier than normal, leading midfielder Diego Rovira to describe the sensation as “playing on snow”. The roof of the facility was just 18 feet above the turf, leading to a number of yellow-line free kicks when the ball hit the roof. Chiky Luna (goal, two assists) potted home one of those restart opportunities to extend the Sockers’ lead to 7-3 early in the third quarter.
“It was definitely an adjustment,” said Chiles, “the first two quarters we kicked a bunch of balls into the roof. It may have turned into a bit of an advantage for us because of all the restarts.”
In between Chiles knocking home a restart goal off a Luna assist and slotting a pass from Wunderle, Anthony Medina earned a much-needed goal to get his season rolling. The Valhalla star has battled an ankle problem in the early season and then took 13 stitches to the nose and around the eye after catching an elbow in the Sockers’ U.S. Open Cup victory against Las Vegas. Medina took an outlet throw from goalkeeper Chris Toth, turned two defenders along the left wall and roofed a shot for his third goal of the season.
In addition to picking up his first assist of the year, Toth made 17 saves and conceded only three goals in earning his first league win of the season.
As the Sockers counted off the minutes in the fourth quarter and prepared for the long trip home to San Diego, minds already started looking forward to the rest of the month ahead. The Sockers travel to Tacoma this weekend for back-to-back games, and have back-to-backs each of the next two weekends as well, including another Sunday trip to-and-from Phoenix on January 22nd. The team will need to manage the roster and protect older legs from injury while simultaneously understanding that as their winning streak grows, so does the pressure to maintain peak performance.
“We know every time we go on the road it could be the biggest game on the other team’s schedule,” said Chiles, “When we go to another team’s facility we’re going to get their best effort.”
So far, it hasn’t been enough to knock the Sockers off their undefeated perch.
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