FINALLY HOME! CRUNCH START THE NEW YEAR IN NEW HOME!

 




              The Cleveland Crunch will start their 2023 home slate of games against new opponents, also in a new home. That's right folks, the Crunch will play this weekend's home back-to-back against the state of Michigan in the friendly confines of the I-X Center! This is a big step for the Crunch since their return in 2021, and as fans you can only imagine the excitement building for this weekend. The weekend slate will see rematches from December as the Detroit Waza Flo come in Saturday and Grand Rapids FC follows up Sunday. The Crunch took both games against both teams Last month and will look to keep the streak alive starting Saturday night.


What makes this weekend so special is that not only are the Crunch opening their home slate in a new arena, Crunch great Zoran Karic's jersey will also be retired Saturday night before the game. We had a chance to catch up with the "Striker" himself Sammy Mutemwa to get his thoughts on this weekends events.


  " Back in December we swept the weekend without even having our full Squad. Now being at home and at full strength, we expect to win, and we expect to grow. That's the first step towards our goal. Being back home after three games on the road and being able to play our first home game of the season in a new arena is something special. The anticipation is through the roof. The expectations are high. There's a bit of nervous excitement, but we're gonna ball out whether its 10 fans or 10,000 fans there. We expect to win another championship, but we have to make sure we stay healthy, avoid injuries where we can, and be cohesive. We have a lot of young blood this year. So working through the team building process and making sure the young guys continue to improve so we can make sure the steps to winning another championship are in place. We have to carry on the legacy that was built and make sure the Crunch is back to our prime and we stay that way for the future."


Saturdays' match-up sees Detroit come in at 7pm. Detroit is 0-3 on the season, but have been scrappy all season so far. The Crunch won the first meeting 7-4 with a dominating performance in both halves of that game. Sunday's early afternoon game will see Grand Rapids FC come into town in yet another December re-match. The Crunch also won that meeting 10-6 on the Ryan Minick scoring (4) goals that match. Grand Rapids is a game ahead of the Crunch in the divisional standings, but that can and may change after this weekend. 


Keep in mind, the last time the Crunch had the division lead before the midseason mark they went undefeated on the way to winning the M2 Great lakes division title and a repeat appearance in the league title game, and if this team plays the way they have since returning to play in 2021 believe us when we tell you that this team will be scary to face at home or on the road.


Tickets for the weekends games are on sale now so get them while they're still available. It's going to be an exciting and action packed weekend for the Crunch and "Crunch Crazies"


~IT'S CRUNCH TIME!!~

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