MASL ANNOUNCES JANUARY COACH AND PLAYER OF THE MONTH AWARDS

KANSAS CITY (Feb. 5, 2019) – The Major Arena Soccer League has named Rio Grande Valley’s Genoni Martinez as the January Coach of the Month and San Diego Sockers midfielder Brandon Escoto as the January Player of the Month. 

Coach Genoni Martinez has graciously taken the wheel and turned things around for the RGV Barracudas. The Barracudas are in their second season since rejoining the MASL last year and this is Martinez’s first season at the helm.

"Genoni Martinez is someone with great experience both as coach AND a player,” said Jose O. Ruvalcaba, Owner. “It’s no surprise he’s getting recognized, we ourselves recognize him daily as he takes the team to a higher level, something that had not been seen from the RGV Barracudas in previous seasons”

Following a disappointing 3-19 season in their first year in the league, RGV is bouncing back under the direction of Martinez. Aided by a 6-0 January, they currently find themselves 7-3 and second in the Southwest conference, getting closer and closer to first place Monterrey. During the month of January, the Barracudas have outscored their opponents 39 to 16.

In his third season with San Diego, Escoto led the team with 10 goals and 6 assists for 16 total points in January. This includes the game-winning overtime goal against the Ontario Fury on Jan 5. He is currently tied for fifth in the league for points with 24.

“Brandon is having a breakout season and he is a major reason why we are 10-1,” said Sockers General Manager Sean Bowers. “He is deserving of the recognition for his performance in January. We hope that he continues his individual success to help the entire team reach our goals.”

Escoto helped the Sockers go 6-0 for the month and 10-1 overall for the season. The team sits in first place in the Pacific division with a sizeable margin over second place Ontario. The midfielder garnered Team of the Week accolades in weeks six and eight.