Midwest Division tightens; Crunch still perfect, Chicago sweeps a pair

The race for the top spot in the Midwest Division for Major Arena Soccer League 2 got much tighter over the weekend, as the Wichita Wings returned home from its west coast road swing with losses against San Diego and Ontario.

The Wings have concluded their regular season schedule at 7-5. The Omaha Kings, 5-2,  still have five games left in their season, but have a west coast swing of its own to deal with games March 19 in Ontario and March 20 in San Diego. The Kings also have a three-games in three-days weekend remaining, March 25-27 starting with a home game against Colorado on March 25, a road game against the Inferno on March 26 and a road game in Amarillo to end the year on the 27th,. 

Only the top two finishing teams in each division advance to the M2 post-season, so Amarillo is still alive in the midwest as they are 5-5, and will conclude their regular season with a visit by Turlock on March 20 before a potential playoff-spot showdown against the Kings. 

Ontario took a 6-5 win over the Wings Saturday and then  couldn’t rally from a 3-1 halftime deficit Sunday in falling to the San Diego Sockers 2, 4-2. Alan Cresp recorded a natural hat trick in the first half to be the difference maker. San Diego outshot Wichita 29-22. 

Muskegon still isn’t guaranteed a playoff spot after they got beaten by the Cleveland Crunch 16-4, and the Chicago Mustangs swept a pair from the Cincinnati-based BC Swerve. Cleveland, the defending M2 champs, are still perfect at 10-0, while Muskegon falls to 5-6, with a road game against the Swerve left to finish their regular season on March 12.

Admir Suljevic and Dave Jordan each ahd three-goal nights to lead the Crunch while Adetunji "TJ" Ifaturoti had a pair for the home-standing Risers. 

Chicago kept their playoff hopes alive with wins of 7-5 Sunday and 15-11 Saturday.

The Mustangs erased an early 2-1 deficit Saturday with three unanswered goals before the half to take the win. Nestor Dominguez led the comeback with two goals and an assist. 

In Saturday’s wild affair, the Swerve had two-goal leads twice in the first half, but four straight Chicago goals in the third quarter were the difference. The Swerve got as close as two again at 12-10 on a goal by Abe Kanneh midway through the final frame, but it was not enough. Angel Rodriguez had four goals to lead Chicago while Kanneh had four goals and an assist to pace the Swerve.