If you read what I said in "And it starts with a BANG!" then you know that I am not completely surprised at the Sockers loss to Dallas at home. I gave San Diego the -1 only because they were playing at home and are the defending champions, which goes to show that last season was last season and the PASL has changed considerably since then. I was even singled out before the game as a "Jinxer" in the parking lot for saying that the Sockers would probably lose. When I sat down it all panned out how I imagined. Everyone was hyped on the championship ring giveaway, players were smiling, laughing, and joking around, everyone was in a good mood and enjoying all of the back patting that was going on. Everyone was celebrating the Sockers past, while the Sockers future stood calmly by in white and purple and waited.
It was a time for celebration, or "Celebratin" as I was calling it in the parking lot with my 12 pack of Tecate, my brother in law Billy, Mau, and the whole Zeller crew, and of course the unstoppable Dan Ryan and his cohort of mud runners, because things had already changed for me in a very permanent fashion at midnight that same morning, or as we called it in the Military, "Balls" (00:00). I knew that the ninth was a day to anticipate because of the Sockers home opener, and believe me I had been waiting for it, I just didn't expect the festivities to begin at midnight on Friday. But they did. I would like to give Craig Elsten a thank you and a shout out for giving my wife and newborn baby girl, who were watching the game in the hospital, a shout out. Thanks Craig.
The Sockers looked pretty bad in their home opener, but that is expected when we play a team like Dallas. Last year we throttled a terrible Sacramento side 15-2 at home, and the year before that we went to a brand new Anaheim Bolts team and beat them 10-6 in our first games of the season. Austin and Mink, my in game analysts, concluded that our first touches were off, we had trouble holding the ball and racking up consecutive passes in our drives, and while on the power play we gave away too many breakaway opportunities to a shorthanded side. Fatigue and frustration reared its ugly head towards the end of the game and got the Sockers out of sync. Dallas' defense kept the Sockers to only 3 goals, but at least two of those goals were from San Diego newcomers Hughes and McNeley, who hopefully broke the seal and will continue to score for the Sockers.
The positive things to take away from the game are that for both sides the goalies played good games. The final score could be a lot higher if it wasn't for the skilled play of Sagu and Toth. Also, the Sockers kept the Sidekicks scoreless in power plays, killing 5 penalties in all. The Sockers also went into two power play opportunities and scored on one. The one thing that I am unsure of is that our defense lost 3 key guys in Sutton, Krause, and Antoniuk in the off season, but we only brought in McNeley to fill the gap. Is our defense able to compete with just Martin, Velez, Ze Roberto, McNeley, and Mercuriali? I don't think that McNeley and Mercuriali are yet proven assets on defense, and Martin, Velez, and Ze are as tough as any defender in the league, but their combined height averages 5 ft 9 inches, where a team like Dallas averages around 6 ft on their defense.
In sizing up Dallas I have to say that they have some weapons. I was really impressed with Nestor Hernandez, his speed and skill had the Sockers defense out of sorts. He was always moving to places that exposed our defense and forced the Sockers to adjust. Dallas also has a lot of guys who can put the ball in the back of the net and were generous in goal distribution with 5 different players scoring 5 goals. The Dallas defense was also able to keep San Diego in check keeping the Sockers scoreless in the first and third quarters. Dallas was the better team and they showed it.
It was pretty surreal seeing the Sockers lose in person, something I have never seen since becoming a season ticket holder in 2009. I still had a big smile on my face, but it would have taken a lot to wipe that grin off of my face that day. I think that the Sockers losing the first game is a nice change of pace from last year when the Sockers won their first 9 games with Scores like 15-2, 11-5, 18-3, 14-4, 15-5, and 14-3. Boring. I am glad that the Sockers got their first home loss out of the way at the begging of the season and shook off the extra pressure of a streak like that. Dallas should be celebrating their victory at San Diego now, because they might have just set the table for a possible rematch here in San Diego in the playoffs. As I explained to my crew out side the arena before the game, "Sockers fans need to see the Sockers lose, because tasting the agony of defeat makes the thrill of victory taste that much more sweeter."
So where do the Sockers go from here? Well hopefully the win column, because a home game against an experienced Monterrey side followed by a 4 game road trip could put the Sockers in a terrible position 6 games into the season. Monterrey (2-0) sits atop the Central Division and could easily upset the Sockers at home for the second time in a row. The road trip starts up in Turlock (2-0) where the Sockers will have to adjust to a smaller arena, and then follow it up with a game the next day against the Surge (0-3). The Sockers then travel to Ontario (1-0) to take on the Fury before going into Las Vegas (3-0) for a rematch of last years semi-finals. I wouldn't say that the Sockers will lose all of these games, but they could easily be sitting on 3 wins and 4 losses by Christmas if they aren't careful.
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