San Diego Sockers Roll Past Harrisburg Heat 11-4 in San Diego
Kraig Chiles netted a first-half hat trick with two assists as the San Diego Sockers (8-3) cruised past the winless Harrisburg Heat 11-4 in front of a season-best crowd of 4,177 at the Valley View Casino Center. The Sockers scored on their first five shots and took a 7-0 lead with 2:33 left in the first quarter before pulling back the rest of the way.
“Our goal was to play a complete game, and I’d say we didn’t do that,” said Chiles, who scored a point in his team and league-record 56th consecutive game, “I look at the third and fourth quarter and think we could still do better. It was good to get the win and move on to the next one.”
Brazilian rookie midfielder Ney returned to the lineup after missing two games with an ankle injury and scored his sixth goal of the season. Fellow rookie Matias Kruger (Argentina) had a goal and assist, while veteran Jeff Hughes scored a goal with three assists. Sockers forward Nick Perera battled through a sore back to deliver two goals and an assist.
The Heat (0-10) saw forward Kenneth Fultz score his ninth and tenth goals of the season in the losing effort.
The Sockers maintained their one-game lead over the Ontario Fury (8-5) in the MASL Pacific Division while staying two games ahead of the Fury and Las Vegas Legends in the loss column. San Diego now embarks on a four-game division road trip, which begins with a single match in Seattle next Friday against the 3-10 Impact and continues with three games the following week against Turlock and Sacramento.
San Diego returns home on January 31st against the Impact on Military Appreciation Night, where anyone with an active, reserve or retired military ID can pick up free tickets at the Valley View Casino Center box office. Tickets for civilians are available at (866) 799-GOAL or online at sockers.com.
