SEMIS!! CRUNCH LOOKING TO MAKE IT 5!!

 



   This weekend the Crunch will be looking to make a run for their 5th championship. Standing in their way in the semi-final round is a familiar opponent, the Omaha Kings. To be fair to the Kings, this is not the same team the Crunch have faced in the past. This team is loaded and looking good. Mind you, the Kings are on that short list of teams that have played the Crunch exceptionally tough since their return in 2021.


This season, the MLIS Semi-finals and finals will be in Chicago, and rightfully the top 4 teams in the league are there. Omaha, Houston, Grand Rapids, and Cleveland all punched their tickets to the windy City. To get a better perspective on this weekend's match-up with Omaha, let's get more in-depth.


The Omaha Kings are the best team in the league. That's not boasting. They are coming into the Semi-finals 10-1 with their only loss coming to Chicago early in the season. The Kings scored 114 goals and only allowed 57 this season with a +57 goal differential. They averaged 10.4 with Manuel Lira leading the way scoring 30 goals and 52pts on the year followed by teammates Leonides Mejia(15 goals/20pts) and Daniel Zuckweiler(12 goals/16pts) respectively. The Kings were also 50% on penalties and 56% on penalty kills which means they hang their hat on defense when they get hit with blue cards. This also means that they force most teams into taking bad or mistimed shots on goal which can help out a goal keeper.


The Cleveland Crunch come in riding a 3-game win streak. One of those wins was a thrilling wild card win against rival Chicago last week. The Crunch average 12 goals a game with a +6 differential. They are literally 50/50 on penalties and penalty kills. The veteran part of the squad will feature Admir Suljevic, Mike Derezic, Gabriel Pewu, Sammy Mutemwa, and Ryan Minick, but don't for a second count out the rookie class of Crunch Players as Parker Csiszar, Bobby Tsirambidis, and Merouane Sadji have all contributed, and the Crunch have the best goal keeper in all of indoor soccer in Marijo Musa. As we all know, Last years league title defeat left a bad taste in the mouths of the Crunch. This year, the Crunch are battle tested and you can see that they are hungry. 


The Stakes are high for both teams, It's going to be a tough game for both teams. The scary part about this game is that the Crunch are literally going to be the hottest team in the semis as they have been playing the last three weeks and have been on a terror. The Crunch are also battle tested which means that whoever comes out of this game will have to rely on defense and hopefully fresh legs. It's also worth noting that the Crunch are 2-1 all-time against Omaha dating back to their MASL 2 days in 2021.


If you're asking for honesty, this will be the most entertaining and stressful game of the weekend for Crunch and Kings fans alike. The Crunch and Kings will kickoff at 6pm central time from Grand Sports Arena in Hoffman Estates, IL. We won't make any predictions on this game, but you can bet your last dollar we will be watching the entire saturday slate with much excitement!


~IT'S CRUNCH TIME!!~

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