The Las Vegas Select, an independent arena soccer team recently played the San Diego Sockers who had won 18 straight and never lost at home. San Diego won, but it took a strong second-half performance from the Sockers to squelch the dreams of the up-start team from Vegas as San Diego began their defense of the U.S. Open Cup on Tuesday night (Dec. 27).

The Sockers are the two-time defending champions of both the Professional Arena Soccer League (PASL) and the U.S. Open Cup.

The U.S. Open Cup is a single elimination tournament that is mixed into the PASL season. It includes PASL-Pro and PASL-Premier (minor league) teams and allows for amateur independent teams to compete if they pay a fee.

Tuesday night was the opening round of the tournament. It was set-up to be an easy game for the Sockers. As the defending champions they were paired with an independent team.

Phil Salvagio, the Sockers head coach, initially viewed the game as an opportunity to get his bench players some needed playing time. Several of the team’s stars did not suit for the game including team captain Aaron Susi, forward Brian Farber and goalie Riley Swift.

Las Vegas played tough, tenacious defense and held the Sockers high-scoring offense to only two first-half goals and Select trailed by only 2-1 at the break.

“We had a lot of new guys playing at the beginning of this game,” Salvagio said. “They were not used to this pace. We practice hard, but when it's game time and the under lights they shy away from it a little bit.”

To make matters worse, veteran midfielder/forward Anthony Medina received a deep cut in the face just before halftime that required two stitches on his nose and two others around his eye.

Diverting disaster, Salvagio decided to make some changes in personnel at halftime. “We went with our more experienced guys,” he said.

“We definitely picked it up in the second-half,” veteran defender Scott Martin admitted. “You see one of your guys go down and you get fired up. It gets the adrenalin pumping and it kind of just helps raise the energy level. Phil kind of gave us the business at halftime and I think we responded pretty well.”

Lead by forward Kraig Chiles, the Sockers scored two goals in less than twenty seconds in the third period and the nearly 2,000 fans in attendance erupted with enthusiasm.

Phenomenal energy was seen on the field and felt in the stands for the remainder of the game. The Sockers rejuvenated offense continued to pour on the goals. Chiles finished with a hat trick, midfielder Eduardo Velez added a pair of goals, while midfielder Chiky Luna converted a free kick goal and added an assist.

The positive vibes were aided with the honoring of former Padres slugger Adrian Gonzalez, who received a game ball at the end of the third period. Gonzalez enjoys soccer and played some while growing up in Chula Vista. “I was a goalie,” Gonzalez said. “I never was much of a ball handler.” Gonzalez currently plays first base for the Boston Red Sox.

“We are starting to get our groove back,” Martin said. “I don’t know what happened, but it has taken us a little while this season. I wouldn’t say tonight was our best performance, but we turned it around in the second half and gave the fans [something] to celebrate.”

Salvagio appreciated the experience of playing the Las Vegas Select despite the slow start. “We're not used to teams playing us a little physical like that, so it was good,” Salvagio said.

The victory marked the Sockers’ 19th straight win (counting PASL regular season and playoff games) and a full calendar year since their last loss. It also advanced San Diego to the second round of the U.S. Open Cup, where they will take on the Phoenix Monsoon on January 8 in Arizona.

The Sockers (5-0) next game is a return to PASL regular season action, when they host the rival Anaheim Bolts (3-3) on January 7 in Del Mar. The Sockers will honor legendary former head coach Ron Newman with a special halftime ceremony during the game.

“Come on out and enjoy this atmosphere,” Salvagio said while making a special point to court disappointed fans of the San Diego Chargers. “It's a great venue.”