RUGGLES IS THE SHINING STAR WITH HATTRICK IN9 -5 WIN AT TACOMA

KENT, WA (Friday, January 10, 2025) - Drew Ruggles notched a hat trick, and four others had two points each to pace the San Diego Sockers (5-1-0, 14) to a 9-5 victory over the Tacoma Stars (1-5-1, 4) at the accesso ShoWare Center in Kent, WA. San Diego, which is now tied for third with Milwaukee and Baltimore, has now won five straight after their opening night loss to the Stars. 

Ruggles opened the scoring at the 3:14 mark of the first period after San Diego built the offensive attack from the back with a long Ruggles pass to Kraig Chiles, who then passed it to Charlie Gonzalez who found Gabriel Costa inside the box, who laid off the ball for the charging Ruggles who one-timed into the goal. 

Tacoma equalized two-and-a-half minutes later when Fellipe Souza’s short pass split two defenders and Alex Caceres took a first-time shot to the low left side netting past Boris Pardo. Tyler John tallied a Stars’ short-handed goal to take a 2-1 lead at 8:01 after a turnover at midfield led to a 2-v-1 breakaway with John and Adrian Correa. John’s shot from the left point slid past Pardo into the right side. 

San Diego would quickly atone for their mistake and tie the game on a Charlie Gonzalez power-play marker with the help of Mitchell Cardenas. Gonzalez has points in four straight games. The score came 36 seconds following Tacoma’s goal-ahead goal. Ruggles got his first-quarter brace with a long low shot from the yellow line that snuck past Chris Toth inside the right post. Tavoy Morgan made the pass back to Ruggles for the assist. Cardenas, Costa, and Morgan all have three-game point streaks. 

Keko Gontán and Cesar Cerda aligned to extend the Sockers’ lead to 4-2 at the 4:32 mark of the second stanza. The score would remain the same going into the break. 

The Stars cut into San Diego’s lead with 9:07 remaining in the third. Nani Mendoza worked hard against the side boards to control the ball and then chipped a short pass to Correa, who split two defenders and tallied the goal from just outside the box. 

In the last minute of the third, the Sockers sustained offensive pressure which led to two scores to close out the period. The first goal came off a corner kick pass by Charlie to Gontán at the top of the arc and he placed the shot past Toth to make it 5-3. At 14:51, Cardenas’ shot bounced off the Stars’ John and into the goal for a 6-3 advantage. 

Tacoma’s leading scorer, Nick Perera, finally made it on the scoresheet with an assist on Stefan Mijatovic’s tap-in goal only 59 seconds into the final quarter to pull within two at 6-4. Mijatovic added another goal when his shot ricocheted off Cerda and into the back of the net at 5:56. 

Mendez scored his first Sockers career goal on a counterattack after Gontán stole the ball and hit Mendez with a pass, who split two defenders and slotted home a shot past Toth at the near post at 7:54. Mendez added an assist two minutes later on a goal by Juan Salazar for an 8-5 San Diego advantage. Ruggles started the play with a steal at midfield, he passed it to Mendez who found Salazar at the penalty spot for the goal. Ruggles finished the scoring with 35 seconds left after Leo crossed the ball to him at the side of the box for the one-time score against the sixth-attacker for a 9-5 final score. 

Pardo (4-1-0) won his fourth consecutive game by making six saves on 11 Tacoma shots. 

San Diego returns to Frontwave Arena for a two-match homestand beginning on Wednesday, January 15, 7:35pm against the Kansas City Comets. A special $5 ticket offer on select seats and also $5 Coors Lights are available. The Texas Outlaws visit on Friday, January 17, 7:35pm for Military Appreciation Night. A Sockers Military Scarf presented by Kaiser Permanente will be the free giveaway while supplies last. Tickets are available at AXS.com, SDSockers.com, or FrontwaveArena.com.