RIGGIES LACK SPICE IN CLOSE LOSS

The Utica Riggies jumped out to a strong start but ultimately saw a three-goal advantage slip away in a 4–3 loss to the San Diego Sockers in a tightly contested MASL matchup. Utica opened the scoring midway through the second quarter when Gordy Gurson converted a penalty shot, calmly lifting his attempt to the top middle of the net to make it 1–0. Just over three minutes later, the Riggies doubled the lead on a highlight-reel effort from Geo Alves. After linking up with Junior Pinal, Alves played the ball off the wall to the left of the goal, collected his own pass, and tucked a shot just inside the bottom right corner past the goalkeeper. Utica made it 3–0 shortly after when Junior Pinal powered down the left side with a defender on his back and fired a low shot into the bottom right corner of the net.

San Diego responded late in the second quarter, cutting into the deficit on goals from Taylor Walter Bond and Charlie Gonzalez to pull within one heading into halftime. The Sockers carried that momentum into the third quarter, tying the game early before Charlie Gonzalez struck again just under three minutes in to give San Diego its first lead of the night. Despite Utica’s early control and standout performances from Geo Alves (1 goal, 1 assist) and Junior Pinal, the Riggies were unable to find an equalizer down the stretch. San Diego goalkeeper Boris Pardo turned aside 11 shots and earned second-star honors, while Alves was named the game’s first star in the hard-fought loss.