Chiky Luna’s goal with :19 left in the fourth quarter gave the San Diego Sockers a wild 6-5 victory over the Mexico City Sidekicks, sending the Sockers through to the final of the PASL-Pro North American Championship. The Sockers will play La Raza de Guadalajara tonight at 6:15pm in Del Mar, bidding for the 11th indoor soccer title in the history of the revived franchise. (watch a full-game replay on demand from 619 Sports by clicking here)
A game filled with tension, drama, nerves and argument came down to the Sockers’ long-standing ability to convert goals off of free kicks and set pieces. Paul Wright netted a free kick goal from the top of the penalty box early in the fourth quarter to put the Sockers ahead 5-4, and then acted as a decoy for the final goal, as Aaron Susi veered in to thread a pass to Luna in the left slot for the game winner.
“It was actually designed for Susi to set up Paul, but when Mexico City lined up (their defense), we saw they were leaving me wide open,” said Luna, “Susi and I just looked at each other, and I knew he was coming to me right away.”
Read more, and watch video interviews with Luna and Kraig Chiles after the jump: Continue Reading →
by Craig on February 15, 2010
STOCKTON–The San Diego Sockers will have to wait until at least Friday to clinch the PASL-Pro Western Division, and the one team they didn’t want to let into the playoffs might now be heading to Del Mar.
In the first overtime shootout in PASL-Pro history, the California Cougars (11-4) edged the Sockers 7-6, in front of a crowd of over 1,000 at Stockton Arena. A spirited comeback that saw San Diego rally from 5-1 and 6-5 deficits came up empty, as the Sockers were stopped on two of their three tries in the shootout by Cougars’ keeper Jesus Molina.
The game was broadcast live exclusively on 619Sports.Net and an archived version of the game can be found here.
Kraig Chiles (pictured) scored four goals for San Diego, giving him 30 for the season, and Paul Wright’s goal off a free kick from the top of the box with 1:25 to play in regulation tied the game 6-6. Anthony Medina also scored for the Sockers (11-2), who generated multiple chances and hit the post three times in the fifteen minute OT period but could not find the back of the net.
“We knew they were going to come after us hard, and they did,” said Medina, “Once we came back from 5-1 down I thought we were going to pull out the win for sure.” Continue Reading →
