The San Diego Sockers begin the 2023-24 MASL regular season against the Tacoma Stars Sunday at Pechanga Arena.
The Sockers are in search of their third consecutive MASL Supporters Shield, awarded to the club with the league’s best regular season record. Last season, the Sockers went 22-2.
San Diego is 45-2-1 over the last two regular seasons. The club carries a 10-match regular season winning streak into this season.
The Sockers and Tacoma Stars come together for the first of six meetings this season, including two in a row as it begins. The two clubs meet again on Dec. 9 in Tacoma, and once more in San Diego on Dec. 30.
The Sockers will go twice more to Tacoma in January, and the two clubs will wrap up the regular season against one another on March 30 in San Diego, which also will be San Diego’s final regular season home match at Pechanga. They are due to move to Oceanside’s new FrontWave Arena in 2024.
Having faced off against Tacoma since the days of the original MISL, the Sockers have the all-time advantage with a record of 72-22. In the MASL, San Diego is 29-4 against Tacoma, and 4-0 in playoff series.
The Sockers went 2-0 against the Stars in 2022-23, and have won eight straight in the series.
San Diego will do battle in a six-team Western Division this season, with the top four teams qualifying for the Ron Newman Cup playoffs.
The Sockers will play a Western-heavy schedule, facing Tacoma and Empire six times each, defending champion Chihuahua – they fell to the club in May’s Western Conference finals – three times, the Texas Outlaws three times and Dallas twice.
Four out-of-division matches will see the Sockers host St. Louis and Kansas City, while traveling to Kansas City and Milwaukee.
The Sockers have boasted the league’s best defense for two seasons running, and is the only club to allow fewer than 100 goals in a 24-match season, which they’ve done in back-to-back campaigns.
Goalkeeper Boris Pardo has won consecutive Goalkeeper of the Year awards and is a three-time winner overall.
Team captain Kraig Chiles begins the season eight points away from 400 in his MASL career, and 29 points from 700 in his Sockers career (including thePASL).
Free agent acquisitions Drew Ruggles and Gabriel Costa bolster a roster that already is returning nine double-digit scorers. A special note for Sunday: Socker Brian Farber also will appear in the final game of his career.
The Stars are led once again by forward Nick Perera, a San Diego native who won his second MASL MVP award last season after leading the league with 37 assists and 70 points.
The 5:05 p.m. match will be streamed live on Twitch on @masl_soccer.
