ONTARIO, Calif. — Leonardo de Oliveira marked his return to the lineup with two goals and an assist as the San Diego Sockers defeated the Empire Strykers 6–3 on Friday night at Toyota Arena, securing their first win of the 2025–26 MASL season.
Charlie Gonzalez added a goal and an assist for San Diego (1-1-1, 4 points), and goalkeeper Chris Toth stopped 11 of 14 shots to earn the victory.
Sockers Lock Down Defensively
San Diego’s defense delivered a strong performance against an Empire squad that had snapped a 15-match losing skid to the Sockers in the season opener. Midfielders Jesus Pacheco and Sebastian Mendez drove the team’s high press, while defender Cesar Cerda recorded three blocks. The Sockers held the Strykers (1-1, 2 points) scoreless for 40 minutes between late in the first quarter and midway through the fourth, scoring four times in the second half to build a 5–1 advantage.
De Oliveira and Luiz Morales—both making their season debuts—were key to San Diego’s attack. “Leo” scored the opening and closing goals and assisted on another in the fourth quarter. Morales tallied the go-ahead goal in the third, while veteran forward Nick Perera added the first goal by a Sockers forward this season.
Fourth-Quarter Surge Seals Victory
A decisive run of three goals in 1:54 pushed the Sockers out of reach.
Leading 2–1 early in the fourth, San Diego earned its first top-arc free kick after Jose “Bebe” Gonzalez forced a defensive clearance. Mendez redirected a pass to Charlie Gonzalez on the left wing, who buried a right-footed half-volley for a 3–1 lead at 4:06.
Just over a minute later, Cerda delivered a long pass that de Oliveira controlled before feeding Perera for a quick finish and a 4–1 cushion at 5:41.
Nine seconds after that, Bebe Gonzalez won another ball off the restart and sent Charlie up the right side. Charlie found Taylor Bond in the middle for a left-footed one-timer, extending the lead to 5–1 at 5:50.
Empire's Anthony Powell and Mounir Alami pulled two back late, but de Oliveira intercepted a pass at the yellow line and lofted a long shot into an empty net at 11:53 to cap the scoring.
Tight First Half Ends Even
Both teams played a defense-first style through the opening two quarters.
San Diego created early pressure, including a point-blank Pacheco chance denied by Empire defender Robert Palmer and a shot off the post from Charlie Gonzalez. A successful coaches’ challenge led to the first goal of the night, with Morales being fouled on a jersey pull at 4:31. On the restart, a quick passing combination ended with de Oliveira finishing from close range for a 1–0 lead at 10:32.
Empire equalized less than a minute later when Powell capitalized on a clearance mistake and set up Marco Fabián for a near-post finish at 11:28.
San Diego outshot Empire 12–3 in the second quarter but couldn’t break through, largely due to Strykers goalkeeper Brian Orozco, who made seven saves in the frame. Toth stopped a 1-v-1 break from Abdul Mansaray to keep the match tied 1–1 at halftime.
San Diego Takes Control in the Third
The tempo increased after intermission, with both teams challenging calls and defenses holding firm. Toth delivered key stops on Palmer and Justin Stinson, and Perera helped break the deadlock. After winning a ball in the offensive zone, Perera chased down a pass into the corner and sent a walla-scora service into the crease. The ball deflected to Morales, who hammered home his first goal of the year at 10:46 for a 2–1 lead.
San Diego faced adversity late in the quarter after Drew Ruggles received a major blue card, but Mendez stepped into the penalty-killing role with a blocked shot, and the Sockers successfully defended the power play. Toth added a key kick save on Alami in the fourth, and Mitchell Cardenas blocked a potential second goal from Fabián with 3:50 remaining.
San Diego closed out the final minutes with controlled possession to secure the win.
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