I-71 ON THE LINE!!

 




   This weekend the season series between the Crunch and Swerve will be one of the more exciting games this season in the MLIS, and with divisional and playoff races heating up in all three divisions the last three games of the regular season should be highly exciting and entertaining. Although the Crunch dominate the all-time series (5-1 currently) you can tell that the rivalry between both cities is there. 


The Crunch will look to bounce back from taking their first home loss since returning to play in 2021 against Grand Rapids FC back on Feb 25th. You can also bet your last dollar they will continue to keep dominance and avenge their first loss of this season to Cincy back on Dec. 10th. There is good news and bad news for the Crunch as far as playoffs are concerned. Bad news- The Crunch lost the division lead to Grand Rapids. Good news- The Crunch can Possibly still win the division(with some help) and make the playoffs if they continue to win the last three games of the season. 


As stated earlier, the Crunch are 5-1 against the Swerve and with their lone loss in the series coming at the start of the season 9-8. Yes, the Swerve are a scrappy team, and have played the Crunch tough since the series started, but keep in mind that just against the Swerve alone the Crunch average 14.6 goals a game. With an average like that you would think the Crunch genuinely hated the Swerve. Nevertheless, things between both teams have remained fairly civil on the field. 


For those wondering, the MLIS playoff format is as such. The three division winners will all have automatic bids in. The teams with the two next best records will be the wild card teams and face each other for the last final four spot tentatively on the weekend of march 24-26.  So to express that the last three games for the Crunch are important is a understatement. Truth be told, the Crunch are still one of the best teams in MLIS and have shown it. So don't expect them to drop off with a shot at another division title and the Playoffs on the line.


Kickoff for Saturdays' game will be at 8:05pm at the Game Time Training Center in Fairfield. Just right outside of Cincy. If you can't make it to the game, you can catch the game on our YouTube channel ( the 216 Sports Network) as we will be broadcasting the game for everyone to catch all the action between the boards!


~ IT'S CRUNCH TIME!!~

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