Stellar Night For Kraig Chiles and the San Diego Sockers
The San Diego Sockers scored another victory as the team moves closer to the league championship — and a historic night was enjoyed by all as Kraig Chiles scored two goals to tie the all time record for most goals scored — ever — by an individual Sockers’ player.
MASL Soccer News: History was on the line Friday night as Turlock Express traveled to the Valley View Casino Center to take on the San Diego Sockers.
Turlock came out firing and scored the opening goal in the first minute of the match. It took the Sockers the entire first quarter to get on track, but the hosts ultimately came out with a 9-3 victory.
Why was this night so important?
Kraig Chiles was determined to tie or break the all-time record for most goals scored while playing in front of his family, friends and Sockers’ fans. With his father cheering him on, Chiles accomplished what no one else in twenty-five years has come close to doing — Chiles tied the all time record of 298 goals scored by Blanko Segota in the ’80s.
“Chiles is such a special player with a unique knack of scoring goals. These type of players don’t come around often and we are so lucky to have him in a Sockers uniform,” said Sean Bowers, General Manager, San Diego Sockers.
“It makes it even more special that Chiles grew up in San Diego and plays professional soccer in his hometown. A local player of his talent — staying in his hometown — winning championships and now tying the All Time goal scoring mark, I know this is a dream come true for him,” said Bowers.
The Valley View Casino Center was alive with fans cheering for Chiles as he looked to score.
The anticipation of breaking the record at home hung in the air and dampened the joy of just tying Segota’s record — which, if you think about it, is really ridiculous. While Chiles has already scored 2 hat tricks so far this season — with 7 multi-goal games — few players ever score three goals in a single game. Chiles is an amazing role model, a great leader on and off the field and an incredible forward. There are tons of professional forwards who’s careers are highly respected and yet few of them ever broke the 200-goals-scores record. So a bit of perspective is needed. Landon Donovan is one of the few forwards who has scored more than 200 goals, but even counting his record as a U17 National Team player, he does not reach Chiles’ mark. Chiles, who has 3 years left on his contract with the Sockers, scores an average of 42 goals per season.
It is possible that Chiles will set an all time new record of more than 425 goals before his current contract is over. While it is unfortunate that Chiles could not break the record when the Sockers beat Turlock, tying the record is an astounding achievement.
“I was trying desperately to break the record,” says Chiles. “As expected, Turlock wasn’t going to let me break the record without a strong fight. It just wasn’t meant to be on the night.”
Now, back to the match recap ….
San Diego’s Felipe Gonzalez brought the match level in the 9th minute, but Turlock answered back to take a 2-1 lead after the first quarter.
Captain Kraig Chiles tied the game once again off a free kick pass from Matt Clare in the second quarter. Clare, who played a great game, went on to record two unassisted goals to give the Sockers the two-goal lead at the half.
Jeff Hughes and Erick Tovar added two more goals in the third quarter, while Martyn Arista got one back for Turlock.
After three quarters of searching for the back of the net, Chiles scored his second on the night to tie Sockers legend Branko Segota’s All-Time Goal Scoring record at 298 goals. Turlock’s defense were determined to block Chiles from scoring again and although his teammates continually fed their captain balls, he would not find the back of the net for a third time. Although he didn’t record the elusive hat-trick, Chiles has tied the record that stood for the past 25 years.
Next week, the Sockers travel up the coast take on the Tacoma Stars. Kickoff is scheduled for December 18th at 3:05 p.m. PT at the Showare Center. The last contest between the two clubs saw Chiles score 4 goals to lead the Sockers to a 5-3 victory.
