May 1, 2022 – Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) News Release
The San Diego Sockers-presented by Kaiser Permanente San Diego-lock boots with the Florida Tropics in the opening leg of the best-of-three 2022 Ron Newman Cup Finals, from RP Funding Center in Lakeland, Florida. Match One is set for a 7:00pm EDT kickoff (4:00pm Pacific), carried live on Twitch (channel @masl_soccer) and on Sirius XM Radio (channels 138/201) nationwide. Match Two (and the Knockout Game if necessary) will be played on Sunday, May 8 at Pechanga Arena San Diego.
The Ron Newman Cup playoffs feature the top eight teams in the Major Arena Soccer League. Division winners earned the top three seeds, with the five next-best point totals qualifying as wild cards. The opening round saw San Diego, Florida, Kansas City, and Chihuahua all advance, the top four seeds in the bracket, while the semifinals saw the top two seeds San Diego and Florida use the maximum three games to advance. The lower-seeded club hosts the first match, and the higher-seeded club the second. If the series is tied 1-1 after two matches, a fifteen-minute Knockout Game follows to determine the winner. The semifinal winners will meet in the Ron Newman Cup Finals.
The Sockers (23-0-1, 66 points) were the top club in the MASL through the 2021-22 regular season, winning the MASL Shield as the regular season champions. San Diego is the #1 seed in the Ron Newman Cup playoffs, with home-field advantage throughout. The Sockers took a 20-match winning streak into the playoffs and swept their quarterfinal against Milwaukee before dropping a 7-6 OT decision in Chihuahua. San Diego has not lost in regulation this season. The club’s only other loss was an 8-7 OT setback to the Ontario Fury on January 9. The Sockers have not lost a match in regulation since a 6-4 loss to the Fury in Ontario on March 13, 2021, a stretch of 39 matches.
The Ron Newman Cup semifinals provided high drama on both sides of the playoff bracket. The Sockers and…