Brazilian Ney Sparkles In Debut
The San Diego Sockers wanted to put on a show to remind their fans of the good old days. To do so, they welcomed some brand new Brazilian flair to the field.
Brazilian midfielder “Ney” (Mardney Almeida Felix) registered a hat trick with two assists in his U.S. debut as the Sockers (6-1) set a season-high for goals scored and allowed in a 17-10 romp over the Seattle Impact. A crowd of 2,837 at the Valley View Casino Center saw a familiar face finish many of the seventeen goals, as team captain Kraig Chiles netted a double hat trick, scoring three goals in each half while adding a pair of assists for an eight-point game.
“We were going into the game consciously looking at our attack,” said Chiles, who increased his season totals to fifteen goals and twenty-one points, “We wanted to score goals, have some celebrations and get the fans excited and behind us.”
Mission accomplished. The Sockers’ seventeen goals were the most they had scored in a home game since returning to action in 2009, and the second-most in PASL/MASL franchise history, trailing only an 18-3 win against the Arizona Storm on November 17th, 2012. The 27 total goals also marked the most combined scores in a Sockers PASL/MASL game.
A first-division professional futsal player in Brazil, the 27-year-old Ney made an immediate impression in his first shift as an indoor soccer player, scoring on a perfect back post pass from Eduardo Velez (two goals, three assists). Before the quarter was over, he had the crowd on their feet with an electrifying play, bursting between three defenders off the near wall before cutting a pass to the inside post where Chiles was waiting for a tap-in.
“I am so excited to be here in San Diego and playing with great players on the Sockers,” said Ney in Portuguese via translator Ze Roberto, “I hope I impressed with my game tonight, I don’t know. It’s a different game but one I’m learning and I hope I did well.”
The Sockers are also learning how to play, and communicate, with Ney. After two weeks of training, the language barrier remains an issue, but as soon as the bright lights were on inside the Valley View Casino Center, instincts and talent took over.
Along with a quick Portuguese lesson for Chiles.
“I found out ‘back post’ is ‘segundo pao’, so when I saw him take on those guys I was shouting ‘Segundo Pao! Segundo Pao!'” said the grinning captain.
“I was going to score then I heard ‘segundo pao’ so I passed to the back post and there he was,” said an equally beaming Ney.
San Diego built a 5-1 lead after a quarter with Chiles already finishing his first hat trick, and Evan McNeley adding his third goal of the season. The second quarter saw both teams score four times. Seattle (3-3) converted a pair of pretty goals, including a long-range header by J.C. Henson, who later finished a bicycle kick in the crease. The Sockers had an answer at every turn, with Jeff Hughes (goal, two assists) and Nick Perera (two goals, one assist) continuing the offensive onslaught.
After receiving a halftime tongue-lashing from their coach for having allowed more goals in a half than they had conceded in any previous home game this year, the Sockers came out and turned their 9-5 halftime advantage into a 12-5 lead after three quarters. Ney finished his hat trick on an assist from Argentine rookie Matias Kruger (three assists), while the Sockers saw Perera’s second goal of the night come on the man advantage after a tripping foul on the Impact. San Diego converted three-of-four power play opportunities on the night, with veteran midfielder Chiky Luna contributing two power play assists and a season-best four assists overall.
In a way the final score line was deceiving. While San Diego wound up conceding double-digit goals for only the fourth time in PASL/MASL franchise history and second time at the VVCC, the Impact scored five unanswered to close out the contest in “garbage time” after the Sockers had built a 17-5 lead with 6:51 to play.
“Overall we did very well,” said head coach Phil Salvagio, who earned his 99th win on the Sockers bench, “We had a 17-5 lead with six minutes left. Obviously we need to defend better but that’s my fault.”
“We still need to put together four quarters,” said Chiles as he looked ahead to San Diego’s upcoming test on the road at Missouri and St. Louis after the Christmas holiday, “If we don’t put together four quarters against Missouri, we won’t like the result.”
The Sockers have next week off before embarking on that testing road trip against a Comets team that entered the weekend 7-0 and leading the MASL in goals. They will face Missouri on December 27th in Independence before traveling overnight to St. Louis for an afternoon contest on December 28th.
San Diego then returns home on January 3rd, 2015 to take on the Sacramento Surge on MVP Poster Night. The first 5,000 fans at the VVCC will receive a brand-new Sockers poster featuring their three former MVP players, Kraig Chiles, Brian Farber and Jeff Hughes. Tickets are available at (866) 799-GOAL, online via sockers.com or at the Valley View Casino Center box office.
Photos: Aaron Jaffe/SD Sockers
