Around The League // Week 8
**The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the viewpoints or positions of the Major Arena Soccer League.**
Sockers Hit Their Stride
Winning is a skill and the Sockers are consummate professionals in that regard. After a frustrating start to the season, San Diego silenced the doubters with an utterly perfect month of indoor soccer. They hit their stride and now they’re making their presence known with performances that are leaps and bounds ahead of the competition.
With three games in just six days, the Sockers would have been forgiven for a dropped point here or there, but they managed to earn regulation wins in all three contests. Their most convincing performance came on Wednesday night at home against the Comets. San Diego jumped out to a 3-0 lead, and despite surrendering their advantage in the third quarter, the hosts bagged four more to outlast Kansas City down the stretch for a 7-4 win.
It’s no secret that penalties have plagued the Sockers for years, but during this three-game stretch, Phil Salvagio’s side avoided those costly trips to the penalty box against both Kansas City and Empire. This season, they’re giving up just one short-handed opportunity per game, fewer than every team in the MASL, save Baltimore. Keep that up and they could be the team to beat come April.
Individually, several Sockers made history this week as Boris Pardo became the first MASL goalkeeper to ever log 10,000 minutes played while Leonardo De Oliveira notched his 300th career point, becoming the 11th person in league history to do so. In attack, Sebastian Mendez, Charlie Gonzalez, and Tavoy Morgan tallied six points each across the three games, with the latter pair leading their side with 13 total points this season.
Watching the Sockers is bliss. They’ve been compared with the great programs from around the sporting sphere, and seeing them back among the league’s elites after some brushes with mediocrity is good for the sport. This year’s team is built on an immensely strong defense that gives up just 4.44 goals per game. Now that their offense appears to be firing on all cylinders too, it's going to be hard for the trailing pack to keep up.
The Sockers will round out their joyous January with a trip to Texas to face the Outlaws for a second time this season. A win would give San Diego a chance to jump Chihuahua in the standings, depending on the result of their game in Kansas City just one hour prior. Kickoff at the Mesquite Arena is scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 25, at 8:05 PM EST.
Mayhem in Milwaukee
Tempers flared beyond an acceptable level on Saturday night, following the Wave’s 7-6 win over the Stars. After a brief period of peace, the teams clashed on the field for nearly two chaotic minutes before it spilled down the tunnel and toward the Wave’s locker room. The MASL released its verdicts on Tuesday evening, along with a list of suspensions, fines, and penalty points for the players and staff involved.
The MASL gave Milwaukee’s Qudus Lawal, Tacoma’s Román Torres, and Luis Birrueta one-game suspensions for their respective infractions, while Wave forward Derek Huffman was given a two-game suspension for violent conduct while on probationary status. Milwaukee’s assistant coach, Tenzin Rampa, will also face a two-game suspension for behaving in a “Severe Unsportsmanlike Manner." Finally, Tacoma’s Stefan Mijatovic was issued, “a four (4) game suspension as a result of his in-game and post-game conduct, and for making unprofessional, offensive and abusive language/comments in-game and post-game.” In addition, he will need to, “complete an anger management course and provide the league with a certificate of completion.”
Now that the event and the aftermath are behind us, I will say that it’s a shame that such an amazing contest will be defined by this violent and upsetting scene. Both teams entered the match knowing a win was imperative and fielded strong lineups to boot. The Stars opened strong but the Wave responded, setting up a thrilling back-and-forth battle, filled with vitriol and brilliance in equal parts.
Both William Banahene and Chris Toth saved over 70% of shots they faced while Milwaukee’s backup goalkeeper Augie Rey came up clutch after Banahene conceded a shootout opportunity and a blue card with the score tied and just 11 seconds remaining. His four saves, including during the ensuing shootout, shifted the momentum in the arena back in favor of the hosts, who went on to win late into overtime.
Nick Perera and Willie Spurr led Tacoma’s offense with three points each, but just five other Stars finished the match with a point. By comparison, Mario Alvarez, Max Ferdinand, Alex Steinwascher, and Alex Sanchez all bagged two points while a further six Wave players added a point a piece.
That’s been the story of this Wave side so far. They have the veterans to lean into and learn from, young guns who are willing and ready to run, big names to get you in the seats, and budding superstars to get you out of them. Winning these one-score games isn’t easy, yet Milwaukee has already taken four. This is a team that’s ready to make the jump back to the top, they just need the opportunity to prove it.
They’ll have that chance this week, albeit without Huffman for a pair of tense games this weekend. The Wave will travel to Utica for a double-header at the Adirondack Bank Center for Milwaukee’s first taste of Kelvin Oliviera. The league’s newest unstoppable force meets the league’s third-best defense that gives up just 4.5 goals per game. The first match will be Saturday, Jan. 25, at 7:05 PM EST before a quick turnaround for game two on Sunday, Jan. 26, at 3:05 PM EST.
With the loss, Tacoma’s odds of qualifying for the postseason are rapidly dwindling. They’ll face San Diego, Chihuahua, and Empire in seven of their remaining 16 games, with Kansas City, Baltimore, and Milwaukee accounting for a further five. They will need to start grabbing points in these games, and the suspensions for Mijatovic, Birrueta, and Torres won’t help. Up next is a home and away double header against Empire, with game one at the accesso ShoWare Center on Saturday, Jan. 25, at 9:05 PM EST.
Comparing Stats from Last Season to This Season
Now that all 12 teams have played at least six games, we have the data to properly assess the first quarter of this MASL season. So, to see whether teams have improved or regressed, I decided to compare teams with themselves from last season.
To start, I created datasets using the scores from both this season and last to assess each team’s results in four key areas: Points, Goal Differential, Goals Scored, and Goals Against. Keep in mind that these stats are reflective of each team’s performances through their first six games and do not necessarily reflect the trends seen in more recent games, or the current league table.
I’ll first highlight the Blast, who missed out on the playoffs last season, but rebuilt and have impressed mightily. David Bascome’s side is up eight points from last season thanks to key improvements both on offense and defense. They’re scoring a goal more per game and conceding 1.5 fewer for a goal differential that is 15 higher than last season. Swinging the pendulum in your favor is impressive. Doing it to that extent is truly remarkable, and the Blast deserves some credit.
Another climber this season is Empire. Their -21 goal differential was the third worst last season, but they drastically improved, both on offense and defense for a net gain of 21 goals. Their perfectly even goal differential is indicative of their defensive class, especially thanks to the likes of new signing, Robert Palmer and Onua Obasi’s innovative system. They’ve kept that momentum going so keep an eye out for these figures to be even more impressive when I update them at the midway point of the season.
Lastly, I’ll share a few stats that jumped out to me. Shoutout to the Dallas Sidekicks for conceding twenty fewer goals this season and turning that improvement into four more points. The Wave improved in every category from last season, which is especially interesting considering they finished the season as Eastern Conference Championship finalists, so it’ll be interesting to see what their ceiling is in 2025. Lastly, the Stars might be in more trouble than we thought. Last year’s team didn’t get hot until late, and this year’s side is already five points behind, with a -15 goal difference regression.