Soccer

CRUNCH IN THE PLAYOFFS!!

 Back on April 11, the Crunch and Mustangs battled in what was arguably the M2 soccer league's Game Of The Year. Through adversity, the Crunch would fall behind and battle back to tie the game at 8-8. Unfortunately, the Crunch would fall in overtime 9-8. That loss would be the only loss the Crunch has taken so far.

Fast-forward to Saturday night in what was the Crunch's final home game of the season and a battle for a playoff spot on the line. Chicago was looking to avenge a 14-2 shed whoopin' in Muskegon, Michigan back on April 24 and if the last two games between the Crunch and Mustangs had taught us anything it's that these games are going to be tough.

In a packed sold-out Soccerplex in North Olmstead, the Crunch gave the fans a game to remember. In the first half, Derezic(2) Pepper(2) and Spragling would all score for the Crunch and give themselves a 5-3 lead at halftime. In the second half goals by Jordan(2), Beck and Bernard would give the Crunch a score of 9-6 with the Mustangs mounting a small comeback and replacing their goalkeeper with a 6th man to put the game at 9-8 with 10 seconds left in the game. The "magician" Marijo Musa would make a save followed by another defensive stop to end the game. The energy never left the Soccerplex as the Crunch celebrated with the fans on "Fan Appreciation" night to end the night with a spectacular win. I managed to catch up with head coach Lou Kastelic to get his thoughts.

" I'm glad we got the win. Now the goal is to get healthy. We got some guys that are dinged up, and we were missing a couple of people, but the guys showed grit and toughness and we did what we had to do especially for our home fans. It's been an AMAZING season and we are looking forward to keeping it going!"

I called it " Poetic Justice" because the Crunch avenged their only loss of the season and got the win with the same score they lost by, earned a spot in the playoffs and finished their home season UNDEFEATED! The Crunch also took two of three in their series with Chicago and also go undefeated in the Great Lakes Invitational which gave them their playoff spot.

On top of handling business against Chicago, the Crunch also made history. AS of this writing and through some research this 2021 Crunch team finished their home schedule undefeated for the first time in team history!

They have some time off but will be back on the road June 5 and June 6 against the Wichita Wings and a rematch with the Omaha Kings. The Crunch have a very good shot to bring home another title for Cleveland and I'm confident they will!

IT'S CRUNCH TIME!!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

LOOKING TO BOUNCE BACK!

Image
        The Cobras lost a tough game against the Bobcats last week, but will be looking to travel down to historic portsmouth,Ohio to play the Port City Spartans. The Spartans are new to the Tri-point league, but the city itself is no stranger to football. A former NFL city. Portsmouth was once home to the NFL team the Portsmouth Spartans( now Detroit Lions) back in the 1930s.  This iteration of the Spartans is young and talented. So let's take a look at the Spartans. Port City Spartans: Colors: Black, Purple, Gray Head Coach: Datoine Robinson Record: 2-2 overall, 1-0 league play (last game N/A) Key players offense: Mike Clay, Hayden Kinney, Darion Jones Key players defense: Rayshawn Raglin, Jaelin king, Dion Mckinley Overall: The Spartans display a balance of speed and defense. They play tough and can hang wit the best of them.  The Cobras declined to be part of the "Tale of the tape" part of the article as it was all business back in the "Snake Pit" this week.
Read more

SWERVE VISIT THE LAND FOR ROUND 2!

Image
    Back in December, we as a network were in Cincinnati for the first meeting between the Swerve and Crunch. Although the Swerve won the match 9-8, there was a few if not abundance of fouls not called in favor of the Crunch. especially a foul that was missed right before time ran out on the night. Homefield advantage? Some would say so, but never-the-less the Swerve achieved their first ever win over the Crunch. Fast forward to Saturday night at the Soccerplex in North Olmstead where the Crunch will host the Swerve in could be a early pivitol match-up. A lot has changed since December and so have the MLIS standings. The Crunch now stand alone atop the division while the Swerve are clinging to third place and are a game behind Rapid City. This is the first of another back to back weekend for the Crunch as the will host the Swerve Saturday night and then head to Motown to play the Waza Flo in Detroit. Keep in mind that in our last column we mentioned that the last time the Crunch held t
Read more

BACK IN THE SNAKE PIT!! COBRAS HOME OPENER THIS WEEKEND!!

Image
     While we did apologize for there not being a stream for the Cobras game against the Leviathans back on May 20th. That did not stop the Cobras from coming home with the win that day. That game was also at a neutral site for both teams. This weekend however, the Cobras will be back home in lakewood at the "Snake Pit" for the first time in well over a year. This week's visitors, the Mahoning Valley Ruff Ryderz. Before we get down to the nitty-gritty let's take a look at both teams for a in-depth analysis. Cleveland Cobras: Colors: Green, black, white Head Coach: Adam Rogerson Record: 1-0,( defeated Leviathans 20-3 May 20th) Key players offense: Antonio Boyd, Emmet Calhoun, Malik Gabby Key players defense: Reese Smith, Smoke Fortson, Devierre Glenn Overall: The Cobras struggled in the first half against the Leviathans, but turned it up in the second half. Calhoun scored a rushing touchdown, while the defense had 6 sacks on the Leviathans quarterback as well as an int
Read more