May 7, 2022 – Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) – San Diego Sockers News Release
The San Diego Sockers-presented by Kaiser Permanente San Diego-take on the Florida Tropics in Match Two of the best-of-three 2022 Ron Newman Cup Finals, from Pechanga Arena San Diego. Match Two is set for a 5:05pm PDT kickoff, carried live on Sirius XM Radio (channel 157) and Twitch (channel @masl_soccer) worldwide. A 15-minute Knockout Game to decide the series would immediately follow Match Two in the case of a Florida victory.
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 Florida and San Diego advanced to 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 40 matches.
The Ron Newman Cup Finals began on Monday with Match One from the RP Funding Center in Lakeland, Florida. The…