BIG SECOND HALF FUELS SOCKERS RALLY
Baseball offers the Yankees-Red Sox. The CelticsLakers represent the NBA’s best rivalry. College football features a collection of teams not particularly fond of each other: Alabama-Auburn, Michigan-Ohio State, ArmyNavy.
Sockers 6, Ontario 3
In the Major Arena Soccer League, the best budding bitter rivals are the Sockers and Ontario Fury.
As Sockers owner/coach Phil Salvagio sarcastically put it, “We’ve built up a great love for each other.”
The teams met in the MASL championship Ron Newman Cup last April with the Sockers beating the Fury in a 15-minute mini-game to take the series two games to one on the Fury’s home floor.
The Southern California adversaries renewed their acquaintances Sunday night at Penchanga Arena and the Sockers administered more misery, wiping out a threegoal deficit to pull out a 6-3 win.
As rivals will do, there was plenty of pushing, shoving and slapping at arms. The Fury’s Robert Palmer showed his frustration, serving a twominute penalty for kicking the
Sockers’ Leonardo De Oliveira when Oliveira was sprawled out on the carpet.
“When you have so much emotion between two great teams,” said Salvagio, “you’re going to get that. It’s the indoor game.”
What wasn’t expected was the Sockers falling behind 3-0. After leading 1-0 at halftime, the Fury (2-2) scored two goals in the first 5:14 of the third period.
“We were pressing in the beginning,” said Charlie Gonzales, who had a goal and an assist.
After not scoring for the first 36 minutes and seven seconds, the Sockers netted three shots in a span of 7:53. After some nifty yo-yoing with the ball De Oliveira left-footed a low shot inside the post.
Tavoy Morgan made it 3-2 off a turnover. With one minute to play in the third period, Kraig Chiles muscled a shot past the Fury’s Chris Toth to tie the game at three.
Morgan, who scored two goals, gave Salvagio credit for the turnaround.
“It was the halftime speech by coach,” said Tavoy. “We were being a little lazy, not going for the ball, not passing.”
Gonzalez, who used to play for the Fury, gave the Sockers a 4-3 lead one minute, 39 seconds into the fourth period. Awarded a shootout attempt when the Fury’s Uzi Tayou pulled down Morgan on a breakaway, Gonzales missed his initial one-on-one shot against Toth.
But Gonzalez collected the carom off the board and leftfooted a shot into the net.
It was a Gonzalez assist that led to the fifth goal by Brandon Escoto.
For the Sockers (3-0), the win demonstrated their resolve. Goalie Boris Pardo and three other players missed the game because of COVID protocols. The Sockers signed free agent Eduardo Cortes days before the match and he performed admirably in Pardo’s place, making 12 saves.
“They have a tradition of winning here,” said Cortes. “Fifteen (indoor) championships. That’s the expectation and you’ve got to fall into them.”
The Sockers wore retro uniforms, the original kit worn by the team from 1978 to ’84.
“It feels great,” said Morgan. “Looking pretty gives us a little hype wearing that jersey.”