Demon Hawks, Lancers, Wings, Bombers advance to MASL 2 Semifinals
There were no upset winners in Friday's Major Arena Soccer League 2 quarterfinals with all top seeds -- the Iowa Demon Hawks, Rochester Lancers, and Wichita Wings -- advancing to semifinal round Saturday at Hartman Arena.
The Wings, the No. 3 seed with an 11-0-1 record in the regular season, completed a full day of soccer in their home facility by routing No. 6 seed Atletico Orlando, 14-1. The Wings scored early and often, scoring six goals in the first quarter. Team goal scoring leader Mehrshad Ahmadi followed his 25 regular season goal with a hat trick. Caique Trivelato also had three goals and an assist while Taylor Henry had a goal and three assists.
The No. 1 seeded Demon Hawks pulled away after the St. Louis Ambush 2 threw at least a little scare in the undefeated team (13-0-0) from Des Moines. The Ambush, the No. 8 seed who finished the regular season 4-8-0, trailed just 4-3 with 10 minutes to play in the third quarter, but Iowa showed its pedigree by scoring the last five goals of the game.
Gustavo Sousa led the way with two goals and two assists. Thiago Freitas had a goal and two assists and Bruno Henrique had two goals. Freitas was just named Offensive Player of the year for setting a league record for assists in one season with 26. Skylar Funk, who scored to bring St. Louis within one in the second half, scored two for the Ambush 2.
The day began with the Rochester Lancers, who also posted a 12-0-0 regular season and held the No. 2 seed, defeating the Iowa Raptors, who advanced to last year's MASL 2 title game, by a 6-3 final. Rochester scored the game's first six goals -- two by Taner Bay and two by Matt D'Amico -- and took a shutout into the fourth quarter. Lancer netminder Jakeb Mitchell lost his shutout bid five minutes into the fourth as the Raptors outshot Rochester, 29-17. Mitchell was credited with 11 saves.
Amarillo Bombers (7-5-0) advanced after El Paso Rhino FC was unable to arrive in Wichita in time for their 10 a.m. scheduled game Friday, thus giving the Bombers a forfeit win.
They will meet the Demon Hawks Saturday at 4 p.m. in the first of two semifinals. The second will kick off at 7 p.m. CDT as the Wings meet the Rochester Lancers. There will also be a consolation game Saturday at 11 a.m. CDT between St. Louis Ambush 2 and Atletico Orlando.
Sunday's third place game will be at 12 noon, while the championship game will be at 4 p.m. Sunday. All games are broadcast on the league's YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@MASL2soccer.