After allowing two goals within two minutes in the third quarter, the Sockers battled back from down 3-0 to tie at three apiece in the third quarter, and three more in the fourth quarter to take a 6-3 victory in a rematch of the 2021 Ron Newman Cup.
The San Diego Sockers (3-0, 1st West Div.) were down their best goalkeeper Boris Pardo due to covid protocols Thursday, and Eduardo “Pollo” Cortes made his Sockers debut Sunday when the Fury came to town.
The Ontario Fury (2-2, T-2nd West Div.) started out 2-0, but their most recent match turned into their first loss of the season as they gave up seven goals at the Florida Tropics.
Ontario opened the scoring in the second quarter, and added two additional goals within the first six minutes of the third quarter.
However, San Diego responded quickly. In less than a minute after the Fury’s second third-quarter goal, captain Kraig Chiles connected with forward Leonardo De Oliveira for San Diego’s first goal of the match. And two minutes later, Tavoy Morgan stole the ball from Ontario and scored the team’s second goal to make it a one-goal game.
With one minute left in the third quarter, a wide-open Chiles sneaked the ball behind Ontario goalkeeper Chris Toth to tie the game as the Sockers stormed back from down 3-0 to tie the game at three apiece.
In the fourth quarter, midfielder Charlie Gonzalez got the opportunity for a penalty kick and to take the lead against his former team of six years. After missing his first shot on the post, he rebounded the ricochet and hit the back of the net for the first goal of his San Diego career against his former teammate in goal.
Again in the fourth quarter, midfielder Brandon Escoto and Morgan added on insurance goals in the final half of the fourth quarter, Morgan scoring on the empty goal to secure the Sockers’ third victory of the season.
The Sockers and Fury will go head-to-head for the second of three consecutive matchups between the two SoCal rivals and 2021 Ron Newman Cup finalists on Sunday, Jan. 9 at Pechanga Arena San Diego.