It’s already been a grueling series in the Major Arena Soccer League final, and the San Diego Sockers are one win away from lifting the Ron Newman Cup in Monday’s rubber match at Frontwave Arena.
The deciding game begins at 7 p.m. at the Oceanside arena, where the Sockers fell to Milwaukee Friday 7-2 as the Wave evened up the best-of-three championship series.
The Sockers (16-6-2 in the regular season), though, played short-handed thanks to the brawl that followed their 5-4 road win in the series opener Wednesday.
San Diego survived a late push by Milwaukee, but the victory came at a cost after the league fined and suspended five Sockers ahead of Game 2 due to an altercation with fans as they headed to the locker room.
Most notably, the punishments included a lifetime ban of Sockers defender Stefan Mijatovic, who the league said directly violated “his zero tolerance probation status.” The disciplinary issues include an incident from January 2025 during his time with the Tacoma Stars when he was involved in a brawl with Milwaukee players.
“My teammates and I were attacked by drunk fans after the game on the way to the locker room,” Mijatovic later explained in a social media post. “There was no police or security anywhere to be found at the @uwmpantherarena. I was spit on and someone threw a full can of beer at me on my way to the locker room.”
His absence, and those of teammates Luiz Morales and Jesus Pacheco, who were suspended one game each – along with Cesar Cerda, who was suspended due to a red card in Game 1 – was felt as the Wave scored seven unanswered goals in their win.
Milwaukee (15-7-2, regular season) did it without the services of Oscar Flores, the league’s newcomer of the year and the team’s playoff point-scoring leader, who went down with a quadriceps injury during warmups.
“They came to our home and outplayed us, so we wanted to do the same,” said Milwaukee goalkeeper Gerardo Perez.
If the Sockers can overcome both the Wave and their own trials, they will win their 17th championship and the first since 2022 when they defeated the Florida Tropics to secure their second straight title. They beat the Ontario Fury in a dramatic three-game series the year prior.
Whoever ends up lifting the Ron Newman Cup, it won’t be the Chihuahua Savage, the champions the last three seasons – two of them at San Diego’s expense. Officials announced last September that the Savage, after the league’s discussion of “increased standards of operation, broadcast quality and facilities,” opted “to remove themselves from play.”
Eight teams competed this season, none of them from Mexico. Monterrey’s team last played in the 2022-23 season.
TIckets remain available for Monday’s match, starting at $15.
