CRUNCH SHOW OUT ON BANNER NIGHT!!

Cleveland, Ohio





                       If you haven't been watching the Cleveland Crunch yet, You might want to. Why? Simple, the Crunch are showing why they're one of if not the best professional indoor soccer team in the country, and from the looks of things that sentiment is not changing any time soon.
                                       ( All photos courtesy of 216 sports network photography)



Saturday night was a special event as the Crunch celebrated their 2024 MLIS title win. Players and staff were presented with rings and the all coveted 5th championship banner. Which makes the 5th star on the team crest official. Unfortunately for the visiting Lansing Red Cedar it was the wrong place, wrong time, and wrong team to face. 


Early in the first quarter the Crunch scored early bringing the game to 1-0. Lansing answered back and tied the game at 1-1. After that, it was all she wrote. the Crunch scored five more goals to finish out the first quarter. Once the hometown crowd blinked it was 14-2 at half time. 


The second half was more of the same as the Crunch piled on the goals, scoring seven goals in the third quarter and putting the game on ice. The fourth quarter was more of the same the Crunch scored 3 more goals just for good measure. The scary part about watching this game was the fact the Crunch defense didn't allow a opposing goal the entire second half. Crunch goal keepers Marijo Musa and Scot Santa kept the League's best defense in tact not allowing a goal in the second half and extending Cleveland's goal differential to +37 which leads the league. 


Yes, it is early in the season but, the fact that the defensive side is keeping teams away from the net is astounding to say the least. For the second week in a row Crunch striker Admir Suljevic earned "Man of the Match" honors as well as hitting a milestone as he scored his 100th goal and then some. While Admir led the night with 7 goals, essentially the entire team got in on the action as Spragling(3), Bozak(2), Derezic(2), Schmidt(3), Minick(1), Najar(1), Pewu(1), Kern(2), Jordan(1), Mutemwa(1), and Wolanski(1) all contributed to the scoring barrage. 
       ( we were able to get a close glimpse of the Crunch championship rings, and yes they were heavy) 

The Crunch will be on the road the next two weeks starting this weekend as they take a trip to  that state up north to face Lansing in a rematch on Sunday as the game was moved from Saturday night to Sunday afternoon at 1pm. Even though Lansing is an expansion team, they are scrappy and will fight to the end, but with head coach Antonio Manfut at the helm for the Crunch expect more of the same as the Crunch not only look to defend their MLIS title, but also add another star to the team crest.




~IT'S CRUNCH TIME!!~

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