RGV keeping pace in the West; Muskegon earns home playoff game, Crunch clinches top seed in playoffs
TAMPA, Fla. -- The RGV Barracudas continue to win out west,. coming up with a home doubleheader sweep of the visiting Ontario Fury 2 this past weekend by scores of 12-5 and 8-2 to highlight Week 14 of Major Arena Soccer League 2 plays.
The Barracudas improved to 8-2 on the season, while San Diego is 11-1. However, even if RGV should win in their upcoming weekend doubleheader against Turlock, they still will be the No. 2 seed in the West Division since San Diego owns the head-to-head tiebreaker should the Socker lose their final game of the season.
On Saturday, RGV got goals from 11 different players, and used a five-goal third quarter to break open a 3-1 intermission lead. Ivan Martinexz was the only RGV player to net two goals. The Fury also spread out their scoring with five different players getting goals.
On Sunday, the hosts pitched a shoutout into the final 15 minutes, and got all the offense they would need from Jose Martinez who scored a natural hat trick enroute to a four-goal afternoon. Victor Jimmenez also chipped in with a couple of goals.
The defending-champion Cleveland Crunch continued to roll to the postseason, where they have earned the No. 1 seed which gives them an automatic bye inito M2's Championship Weekend. On Sunday, they dominated the Cincinnati-based BC Serve 18-1, building a 5-0 lead after the first quarter and 11-0 by the half. The Crunch improved to 11-0 on the season, the only undefeated M2 team remaining. They will be at home Saturday to close out their regular season in a rematch against the Swerve.
Admir Suljevic led the onslaught with five goals and two assists, while Mike Dezeric added four scores.
Muskegon earned a home playoff game by finishing second in the Great Lakes division in a thrilling 6-5 comeback win over the Cincinnati Swerve ,on a shoot out goal by Colin O' Keefe with less than 40 seconds remaining . The Risers will now host the Chicago Mustangs in the first round of the postseason on April 2 at Mercy Health Arena. It is the team's first ever trip to the postseason.
As expected, New Mexico (3-8) and Colorado (1-9) put on an offensive show in Colorado Springs, with the Runners outgunning the Infermo, 16-10. The two teams combined for 99 shots on goal, with the Runners taking 54 of those.
Ventura Dominguez scored five times for Colorado, while Marcus Jordan and Joe Higashi had two each. For New Mexico, Mehrshad Ahmadi proved unstoppable, banging in seven goals and picking up an assist. Skylor Rose had three goals while teammates Vince Aragon and Terry Zamora each had a pair.