Chicago Mustangs never trail in defeating Wings; Cleveland rocks and rolls to sixth win

TAMPA, Florida -- There are no undefeated teams remaining in Major Arena Soccer League 2, and the rest of the league have the upstart Chicago Mustangs to thank for that.

Chicago never trailed, and went toe-to-toe with one of the best players on the planet in Franck Tayou, in defeating the previously unbeaten Wichita Wings, 12-9, in a game Sunday at the Grand Sports Arena.

The Mustangs raced to a 4-0 first quarter lead, and allowed the Wings to pull within one just once in the third quarter before holding off the high-powered Wichita attack, giving Chicago an important split of its weekend doubleheader with the Wings. 

While Tayou recorded his second straight hat trick, Chicago's Leo Acosta matched him goal-for-goal in leading the Mustangs onslaught.  Similar to Saturday's game, the Mustangs built a 5-2 lead, but this time Wichita didn't have the same answer it had a day prior.

Jared Robbins got the visitors to within 8-7 with 6:49 to play,  before Benjamin Suddeth and Jonathan Rodriguez got two goals a minute apart to put Chicago back on top 10-7 with 5:14 remaining.

Daniel Delgado and Adrian Ortiz each had two goals for Chicago, which improved to 4-4. The Mustangs also got goals from Alejandro Chavez Adrien Graffin and Martin Murilo.

In addition to Tayou's three, Wichita's offense was paced by Taylor Henry and Robbins who had two apiece and one each from David Lucio Eduardo "Benji" Monreal. 

"This was the most exciting weekend of M2 action so far, and it really sets up everyone for a spectacular finish to the regular season," Commissioner Chris Economides said. "I think the Mustangs proved that the talent level in this league might be a lot higher than casual fans might think, and we're in for a bunch of thrilling games leading up to championship weekend in Wichita July 17 and 18."

One of those teams who seem to rolling to be the post-season are the Cleveland Crunch, who surged to 6-1 Sunday with a 9-5 win over Omaha at the Soccer Sportsplex in North Olmsted.

Cleveland rocketed to a 6-1 lead at intermission, and slowed a Kings rally in the second half to improve to 6-1 and a spot in first place in the M2 standings with a .929 winning percentage. Regular season standings are determined this year by winning percentage because team's won't all be able to play the same number of games due to Covid-19 restrictions. Wichita (4-1, .800) is in second place now after entering the weekend atop the standings. 

The Crunch did a nice job spreading the offensive wealth, with no less than 11 players recording at least one point.

 Sami Mutemwa was the only multi-goal scorer with two.Other Cleveland players to find the mark included Vinny Bell, Mike Dezeric, Boban Cancar, Admir Suljevic, Kevin Blackwood and Ma'Cain Spragling. 

Cleveland outshot the Kings, 42-39. Omaha slips to 3-7 on the season.

Next weeknd's action sees the Colorado Inferno back in action at their Soccerhaus field when they host the Chicago Mustangs on May 15 at 7 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time. For more information, visit soccerhaus.com/colorado-inferno, or visit and of the team or league social media platforms.