2018-19 M2 Champions Set to Return for the 2021-2022 Season
One of the most iconic and successful names in the history of professional indoor soccer will be rejoining the Major Arena Soccer League 2 for the 2021-22 season which will kick off this coming winter.
The San Diego Sockers-2, who last took the field for M2 play in the 2018-19 season, will be back on the field late this year, according to league Commissioner Chris Economides.
“We’re thrilled to have such an important franchise in our sport back to support the newly created pyramid structure for professional indoor soccer,” Economides said. “It is, top to bottom, one of the most quality franchises to ever play the sport with tremendous success on the field and deep community roots off it. To have them back in M2 was one of the first priorities I had after being named commissioner.”
Today’s announcement caps what has been an exceptional few months for the Sockers organization, winning its 15th indoor soccer championship in April in defeating the Ontario Fury for a Major Arena Soccer League title, and weeks later breaking ground on Arena Califino, a new 8,000 seat venue in Oceanside, California, that they will call home for many years to come starting in 2023.
“We are excited to bring Sockers-2 back into M2,” said Sockers owner/head coach Phil Salvagio, “Our organization was very proud of Sockers-2 winning the M-2 championship in 2019, and posting an undefeated season under head coach Rene Ortiz. We believe strongly in the MASL’s model of player development, and look forward to assembling a Sockers-2 squad that can both provide depth for our championship roster, and help develop the star players of tomorrow.”
The Sockers were charter members of M2, debuting in 2017, posting a 7-5 record and eventually falling in the league championship games to the Chicago Mustangs, who rejoined M2 this current season. In true San Diego tradition, the Sockers brought home the M2 title a season later in defeating Cuervos De Juarez.
Sockers-2 has been a proving ground for many players, among them Juan Topete, Oswaldo Lara and Mc’Cain Spragling who currently is playing for the re-born Cleveland Crunch.
M2 is in the final weeks of its 2021 regular season, and will host its “Championship Weekend” July 17 and 18 in Wichita. Earning playoff spots are the Wichita Wings, Amarillo Bombers, Chicago Mustangs and Cleveland Crunch.
Additional announcements are planned in the coming weeks regarding more teams returning to M2 play after sitting out the current season due to the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as announcements of new expansion teams in both major and mid-sized markets throughout the U.S.