San Diego Sockers Make A Real Difference – Don’t miss tonights game vs Tacoma Stars
Evan Mundine, a 17-year-old boy form Bastrop, Tx., has Crohn’s disease which causes him a life so far filled with more agony than anyone teenager should deal with – will be the highlight of the San Diego Sockers match tonight thanks to a very special midfielder; Brian Farber.
The San Diego Sockers show soccer is a unifying sport; San Diego’s indoor championship team sign of 17-year-old midfielder Evan Mundine to a one-game MASL contract for the upcoming game tonight against the Tacoma Stars. The contract was revealed to be worth $2,000 per game. Mundine will wear uniform #7 and be on the field for Saturday night’s kickoff.
“Evan is a Socker, he always has been and he always will be,” said head coach/owner Phil Salvagio, who presented Mundine with his contract at the Valley View Casino Center on Thursday morning, “He’s been in on our bench and in our locker room in spirit for years, and now he’s here in person.”
Evan, who was born with Crohn’s disease and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, has been one of the Sockers’ biggest fans in the world, rooting from afar from his home in Bastrop, Texas. A top-flight youth soccer player, Mundine has been kept off the field for the past few years due to illness but the Sockers have brought him to the professional ranks where he belongs. Mundine kept a strong communications with midfielder Brian Farber who is his hero. Mundine first watched Farber play when he was with the Houston Dyanmo and the two forged a strong connection that would last years. Farber always looked out for and wanted the best for Mundine; so it was natural that his Sockers’ teammates wanted to help too. Aaron Susi, Chiki Luna, and MVP Kraig Chiles all started connecting with Mundane and so did Salvagio.
“Nobody is braver or tougher than Evan Mundine,” said Salvagio.
The Sockers will not only sign Mundine to a one-game contract; he will be added to the team’s active MASL roster for the Sockers-Stars game. MASL commissioner Kevin Milliken has issued a special roster dispensation allowing the Sockers to carry fifteen active players for the game against Tacoma, including Evan. Mundine will be on the field for the actual game kickoff.
“This is a proud day for our organization,” said general manager John Kentera. “We’re signed Evan on Thursday morning and we expected him to be at training on Thursday night.”
The Sockers return home on Saturday, January 31st when they host the Tacoma Stars. Tickets are available at the Valley View Casino Center box office, by phone at (866) 799-GOAL or online at sockers.com. It’s Military Appreciation Night, and anyone with an active, retired, veteran’s or reserve military ID can present it at the VVCC box office in exchange for two free tickets to the game.
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SOCKERS HOST TACOMA AND MILITARY FAMILIES
The San Diego Sockers (12-3) welcome the Tacoma Stars to the Valley View Casino Center on Military Appreciation Night, Saturday, January 31st. Anyone with a military ID can receive two free tickets to the game at the VVCC box office. The Stars, who lost 11-2 in Las Vegas last night, are 0-3 since joining the MASL in place of the Seattle Impact. San Diego has won six straight games after back-to-back losses in Missouri.
OPPONENT PROFILE: TACOMA STARS (3-13)
The Tacoma Stars (3-13) are 0-3 since joining the MASL on January 16th, picking up where the Seattle Impact left off. The Stars suffered an 11-2 loss Friday night in Las Vegas, allowing the first eleven goals of the game. After starting with a fairly impressive 8-3 loss to San Diego in their MASL debut the Stars have lost their last two games to Las Vegas by an aggregate of 24-5. The Stars are competing simultaneously in the semi-pro WISL where they are undefeated. Several veterans from the previous PASL iteration of the Stars, who had joined and then boycotted the Seattle Impact FC, have re-signed in Tacoma. Brayton Knapp, Jeff Bader, Vitale Bulala, and Stephen Mohn complement leading scorer Derek Johnson.
LAST GAME: SOCKERS 10, SURGE 5
The Sockers capped a three-day, three-game road trip with a 10-5 victory over the Sacramento Surge at Jackson Sports Academy in the state capitol. Kraig Chiles had a goal and season-high four assists to lead the offense, while Ismael Hernandez scored his first two goals with the Sockers. San Diego rested six regulars and saw rookie Edgar Aguilar score a goal in his MASL debut. Jesus “Chuy” Molina started both games in goal in Sacramento, improving to 4-0 on the season with a 5.00 goals against average.
CHILES POINTS STREAK REACHES 60
The goals and points keep on coming for the Sockers captain, forward Kraig Chiles. According to MASL/PASL Stats, Sockers captain Kraig Chiles has recorded at least one point in 60 consecutive matches dating back to November 19th, 2011 when he was held pointless in a 7-6 OT win against the Anaheim Bolts. The streak is the longest in PASL/MASL history. Kraig extended the streak with a second quarter assist against the Surge, then added four more points in the game. Chiles has also managed a fifteen-game goals streak, having scored at least one goal in every Sockers game this season. In his past nine games Chiles has 27 goals, pushing his season total to 36, second-most in the MASL (Gordy Gurson (SEA/STL)-40, Leo Gibson (MIS)-32).
SOCKERS SIGN EVAN MUNDINE TO ONE-GAME DEAL
The Sockers announced in a special press conference on Thursday morning to introduce Evan Mundine a 17-year-old who the team signed to a one-game MASL contract. Mundine will be in the starting lineup for Saturday’s game. Born with Crohn’s disease and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and afflicted with ulcerative colitis, Mundine has been held off the playing field due to medical issues lately, forestalling a top-flight youth soccer career. On Saturday night his dream of playing professional soccer comes true. The Sockers received a special roster dispensation from the MASL for the game and will carry fifteen active players against the Stars.
SOCKERS CLINCH PLAYOFF BERTH
Out-of-town results have guaranteed a trip to the MASL playoffs for the Sockers. Back-to-back losses by Turlock leaves the Express with an 8-9 record, officially clinching at least a third-place finish for San Diego in the Pacific Division. San Diego leads Ontario by 1.5 games and Las Vegas by 3.0 games with five games remaining in their regular season schedule. The Sockers play Ontario twice (2/12, 2/21) and Las Vegas once (2/13) down the stretch.
PERERA TOP FIVE IN POINTS
Continuing the breakout season of his professional indoor career, Nick Perera netted seven goals and three assists (ten points) during the Sockers’ 3-0 road trip through Turlock and Sacramento. The scoring binge gives Perera 45 points on the season (23 goals, 22 assists), a total good for fifth-best in the MASL. Perera leads the Sockers in assists and is third best in the league, while his 23 goals are twelfth. The Sockers and Missouri Comets are the only teams with two players in the top five in MASL scoring (Sockers: Chiles-49, 3rd, Perera 45-, 5th) (Comets: Gibson-61, 1st, Assadpour-47, 4th).
HERNANDEZ SCORES TWICE IN SACTO
Defender Ismael Hernandez made quite an impression in his second MASL game, scoring a pair of goals in the Sockers’ 10-5 victory over the Sacramento Surge. Hernandez finished a restart off a Brian Farber pass for his first career goal, and added another later in the game in the run of play. Ismael played with the Milwaukee Wave in the MISL during the 2012-13 season and was brought to the Sockers from his home in Madrid, Spain.
EDDIE’S RACKING UP THE STATS
Eddie Velez fills up the box score with production, most of it positive. Veteran defender Eduardo Velez had to sit out the Sockers’ last game due to an accumulation of cards over his past four games. Velez’s 22 penalty minutes leads the Sockers and is the third-most accrued in the MASL. Velez also has 26 points on the season (12 goals, 14 assists), which ranks tied for third on the team. Velez leads the Sockers in blocked shots with 15 and is one off his career-high in that category. “El Vaquero” also leads his team in fouls (19) and is tied for the lead in restart goals (3).
CAN’T KEEP A GOOD MAN DOWN (BUT THEY TRY)
No matter how many knocks he takes, veteran midfielder Brian Farber is determined to best the competition. Farber will play on Saturday with a cast on his left hand after suffering a dislocated finger during the 10-5 win over Sacramento last Sunday. The injury was suffered in Farber’s second game back from a knee injury that sidelined him for two months. Despite all his ailments Farber has seven points in seven games and is starting to flash the form that led to the PASL MVP award in 2008-09.
POWER PLAY PICKING UP POINTS
After a shaky start to the season, the San Diego Sockers are moving up the MASL ranks for power play efficiency. The Sockers have converted on their last four power plays and eight of the past ten, moving up to fourth in the league overall in efficiency (53.1%), trailing only Missouri (60%), Detroit (58%) and Las Vegas (53.3%). The Sockers’ 17 power play goals rank sixth in the league while their 32 opportunities are only eleventh.
SOCKERS ON THE RADIO AND WEB
Saturday’s game and all 20 regular season MASL Sockers games will be carried live on ESPN Radio 1700-AM in San Diego. Audio streaming is available at www.espnradio1700.com. In addition, every MASL game has video streaming live on GoLiveSportsCast.com, including all Sockers games. Aaron Susi concludes his tour as color analyst against the Stars before returning to the Sockers’ bench. Sean Bowers takes over on 2/7.
MEDINA FINDING LATE FORM
After a quiet start to the season, veteran midfielder/forward Anthony Medina has started to heat up his production down the stretch. Medina has a goal in four of the last five games, improving to seven goals in fifteen games this season. Medina’s career high for goals is fourteen, set last year. His career high for points is 28, set in 2012-13.
PIFFER ADDS TO BACK LINE FOR SOCKERS
A trade acquisition from Ontario, Luis Piffer is a major addition to the Sockers’ defensive corps. In his debut under the Sockers shield, Piffer netted a goal from midfield in the fourth quarter against the Express, his tenth of the season but first with San Diego. Piffer added an assist against the Surge in Friday’s 13-6 win before sitting out the Saturday game. A two-way defender with a big left shot, Piffer is in his second season of PASL/MASL action and was second on the Fury this year with nine goals and fourteen assists (23 points) in fourteen games. In his career Piffer has 22 goals and 20 assists (42 points) in 28 games with Ontario, Las Vegas and San Diego.
MASL NOTES
- The Harrisburg Heat won their first game of the MASL season on Friday, beating St. Louis 25-16 (multi-point scoring). The win snapped a PASL/MASL record 17-game losing streak for the Heat.
- February 1stis the MASL trade deadline and roster freeze for the playoffs. All teams must submit their 20-man rosters for the playoffs by the deadline.
- Defenders Dan Antoniuk and Evan McNeley are questionable to play against Tacoma due to injury.
- With 234 goals in his Sockers PASL/MASL career, Kraig Chiles is now twenty goals away from Juli Veee’s record for goals in a Sockers career (254).
