The San Diego Sockers are experiencing a wonderful case of deja vu. The Sockers punched their ticket to the North American PASL-Pro Championship game by defeating the Mexico City Sidekicks 7-4 on Friday night. It was a repeat match up of last year’s semifinal game. The victory also secured a rematch of last season’s championship game against the Guerreros de La Raza de Guadalajara. If the Sockers beat La Raza tonight at the Cincinnati Gardens they will claim back-to-back PASL-Pro championships and the 12^th overall indoor championship in franchise history.

While the Sockers playoff competitors mirror that of last season, the participating players for Friday’s game were anything but predictable. For diverse reasons both team’s rosters were drastically different than what was expected just a few weeks ago.

On February 18, the Sidekicks team van carrying 11 players blew a tire and rolled over several times. Two players were killed instantly and two others died at the hospital. Despite the tragic loss, Mexico City did not give up their pursuit of a championship. Instead they valiantly carried on by recruiting several talented indoor soccer veterans. That included former Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) star forward Carlos “Chile” Farias and defender Genoni Martinez.

With a heavy heart, the retooled Sidekicks opened the first round of the PASL-Pro Championship Series by demolishing Calgary United 10-2 on Thursday night. Mexico City’s performance was so strong, several members of the Sockers organization expressed concerns on Friday afternoon about their chances against the Sidekicks.

There were legitimate reasons to be concerned. The Sockers took the pitch in the semifinal game without three of their best players. Defender Dan Antoniuk, midfielder Brian Farber and goal keeper Riley Swift, who was the MVP of last season’s championship game, all did not play.

Antoniuk was not present because he received an invite to try out for FC Dallas of Major League Soccer (MLS). It was a tough decision for Antoniuk to leave the Sockers short in the playoffs, but he could not pass on the opportunity to play soccer at its highest level in the United States. Swift was absent because he was not granted a furlough from his final day of fire fighter school. Farber was present and expected to play, but tweaked his ailing quadriceps in pre-game warm-ups and elected to set out.

“It’s not like we don’t have any other options” Farber said in explaining his decision not to play. “If I was on another (less talented) team and I was hurt, I probably would have tried to play through it.”

Those options included midfielder Eric Wunderle, who received an opportunity to play in replace of Farber. Wunderle scored a goal and added an assist on an Anthony Medina goal. “It was huge,” Farber said of Wunderle’s performance.

The biggest concern going into the game was how well rookie back up goalie Chris Toth would perform. “If you only allow five goals we will win,” head coach Phil Salvagio assured Toth in a team meeting. “I don’t care when they happen. Just don’t allow more than five goals.”

Salvagio was correct; five goals would have been good enough. However, Toth only allowed three and he even helped offensively by adding two assists when the Sidekicks pulled their goalie late in the game. “How about Chris Toth!” seasoned veteran defender Paul Wright exclaimed after the game. Wright’s remark sparked a round of applause from every member of the team.

“I am stoked that I got this playoff win,” a humble Toth said. “This is all I have been looking forward to all week. I just wanted to play this game and show these guys that you can put me in anytime and I will be ready to play.”

Despite an MVP type performance, Toth will likely not play in tonight’s championship game Swift and Antoniuk (who was released by FC Dallas on Friday afternoon) took red eye flights so that they could join their teammates. Farber is also hopeful that he will be healthy enough to play in the final.

With the whole team reunited in Cincinnati the Sockers are now poised for another dramatic championship celebration. Kickoff for tonight’s PASL-Pro Championship game is at 4:30 Pacific. You can view the game live via a web cast at 619sports.net.

I will be filming the game along side Sockers announcer Craig Elsten. You can ask a question of either one of us during the game in the web cast’s chat box.