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(photos by aaron jaffe/sd sockers)san diego--the san diego sockers opened their quest for a fifth straight ron newman cup first with a ceremony to honor their captain, then with a clinical playoff victory over their neighbors to the south.converting a pair of two-man advantages late in the third quarter, the sockers pulled away for a 7-4 win over toros de mexico, advancing through the professional arena soccer league pacific division semi-final in front of 4,116 at the valley view casino center. eduardo velez and aaron susi each netted twice, while kraig chiles added a goal and two assists for san diego. the sockers (14-3) and the pasl honored susi, the team captain who is retiring at the end of the playoffs, in a special pregame ceremony. the team gave susi a framed jersey while the league renamed their playoff mvp award the aaron susi trophy.susi is the only player in pasl history to have won each of the first five championships."that is a true honor," said susi after the game, "my thanks to the league, i don't know what to say. i've put a lot of my life into the game of indoor soccer and tonight was very special."in order for the night to truly be special, though, the sockers would need to beat the toros in a single elimination playoff contest. using the defense that has become their trademark this season, the sockers blocked a season-high nineteen shots and limited their mistakes to a minimum while shutting down the pasl's fourth-highest scoring team."they are a very good team, very tricky on the ball, and i think we came out in the second half with good focus and concentration," said defensive captain ze roberto, "i think that really helped the team in general."after going 8-0 on the road this season and losing three games at home, the sockers decided to help their team concentrate by staying in a mission valley hotel the night before the game. the team bussed to the valley view casino center in business suits to accentuate the business trip atmosphere."i don't know that it helped us gel more but it helped us focus," said midfielder brian farber, "we lost three games at home and none on the road this year. i think it was something we wanted to try and clearly it worked. we came out totally focused. sorry to our families here in san diego but we had to excuse ourselves from that situation and just focus on what we needed to do here tonight: win a game and move on in the playoffs."two san diego scoring spurts helped secure a berth in next week's pacific division final against the las vegas legends (13-3), which will be played at the las vegas sports park on march 1st. the first quarter was tentative for the sockers while the toros demonstrated both spirit and possession. goalkeeper chris toth (seventeen saves) shined with some point blank saves early in the quarter, while kraig chiles and oscar rivas scored goals for a 1-1 tie. san diego spread three goals over the length of the second quarter. velez converted a toros six fouls power play with 13:23 to play in the period, finishing a chiles assist for a 2-1 san diego lead. raymundo reza made it 3-1 with a brilliant individual effort, pressuring mexico keeper ramon torres into a turnover before flicking the ball high in the air, where he headed it home with 8:16 to play in the half.the sockers cashed in a top-of-the-arc restart with just 17 seconds left in the quarter, as chiky luna touched home chiles' soft pass for a 4-1 halftime edge.san diego saw tijuana grab the first two goals of the third quarter, as shino cavarubias and oscar rivas narrowed the lead to 4-3. susi took over, scoring just nineteen seconds later after a steal by velez to re-establish the two goal lead. rivas, who had been excelling with skillful ball-handling, was red faced after tripping on the ball to set up the sockers' attack.the young toros then came unraveled, committing a series of penalties that allowed the sockers to salt the game away. a six fouls blue card was followed by an elbowing penalty just 26 seconds later, giving the sockers a lenghty two-man advantage. velez banged home a back post pass from evan mcneley to put san diego ahead 6-3."the power plays were definitely a turning point," said head coach phil salvagio, "converting their silly mistakes. we did a good job of limiting our mistakes and keeping our emotions in check during a tough game."just seconds later, daniel villela of the toros tripped san diego's jeff hughes for another blue card penalty, and susi blasted home the sockers' second two-man advantage goal of the period with thirty seconds remaining. it was aaron's second goal of the night, a perfect capper to a special night in san diego."obviously we're coming in here looking for the win. i definitely wanted to score some goals tonight playing in front of my family and friends for the last time," said susi, "i was happy to be able to score a couple of goals and help our team move on to las vegas next weekend.""we have been working on (the power play) and it is getting better and better," said velez.the sockers took their game to a different level in the fourth quarter, possessing the ball in an extended game of keep-away. for minutes at a time the toros were left chasing the ball helplessly while san diego continued to probe the midfield and then turn back."that's taking it to another level of class," said head coach phil salvagio, "our team can do that. we can possess.""we need to keep doing the same thing and think every game about that," said roberto of the team's possession, "that's what changes the game often, because teams don't want to chase the ball."gerardo guerrero's goal with forty five seconds remaining was far too little for the toros (9-8), who saw their season end in the opening round of the playoffs for the second straight year. tijuana was hampered by the loss of their top striker gerardo villa (34 goals), who injured a hamstring in an outdoor game last week. the pacific division final will also be the rubber match of a three-game season series between the sockers and legends. both teams have won on the opponent's home turf, although the prior game between san diego and las vegas was played at the orleans arena. the winner will advance to the ron newman cup final four in chicago on march 15th. hard feelings between the two rivals developed on the field during their january 11th match and intensified when the legends placed the division final at their sports park instead of the orleans or another larger arena. legends owner meir cohen maintains the orleans was unavailable for march 1st or 2nd, due to a las vegas wranglers hockey game and the following conversion of the arena to basketball for the upcoming west coast conference basketball tournament. "i wish i could say nice things about where we are going to play, but i can't," said salvagio. the sockers owner, who dresses nattily for home games and games in professional arenas, said he will take a low-key approach to saturday's showdown."i'll be wearing my sweats, and that's about all i can say. the sockers will be looking for a win, bottom line."sockers players anticipated the showdown between two quality sides regardless of the venue."it's going to be a good game," said susi, "it's going to a battle down to the last whistle.""we're finally healthy and we're firing on all cylinders," said farber, "those guys beat us pretty well here (12-9 on january 11th) and that was embarrassing. we're ready to play them wherever we play."in the end the sockers' final home game of the season and their final night in front of their fans for 2013-14 was a night for the team's captain. "that's a big honor," said salvagio of the renaming of the league playoff mvp trophy, "i have so much respect for aaron susi, he's had a great career, has had a great year this year at age 39, and he's also one of my best friends.""it's been a pleasure for me to be his teammate," said velez, "he is a great captain, a great player, and a great person. there's not much more that i can say.""much love to san diego, i grew up in this arena watching the sockers play, and it has been a real treat for me to be the captain of this team and have some of those same old sockers come back and watch me play," said susi, "i have so much love for the best fans in the sport."would aaron entertain the thought of perhaps pulling a brett favre and performing a late reversal, coming back for one more year?"nah, i'm done, the legs are done," said susi.i'm just here to battle, help lead this team, and have us do what we do best in san diego, which is win championships. we have three more games to go." |