Lansing, Mi     Ok, I know what you're thinking, "it's an expansion team, they're supposed to dominate them". You'd be correct if those were your thoughts, but you also have to understand that this isn't an ordinary defending championship team the Lansing Red Cedar were playing. This was the MLIS defending Champion Cleveland Crunch. to be fair to the Red Cedar, they are a very scrappy bunch and fight to the end. They play hard and may actually have the potential to become a playoff team. Unfortunately, tonight was not their night as the Crunch continued where they left off on January 11th. I'll save ed Cedar fans who read this time... If you blinked, you missed it. The Crunch started off slow, but not because of travel. The Red Cedar actually made it a tad difficult for the Crunch early in the first quarter. Then it got real.   By the end of the first quarter the Crunch had a comfortable 3-0 lead, and before you knew it the score had changed to 8-1 go...

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...

Ft. Wayne, Indiana         The 2025 Major League Indoor Soccer has started off more or less the same for the Cleveland Crunch. In winning fashion. This past Saturday the Crunch opened up their regular season on the road against the expansion Summit City United out of Indiana. Unfortunately for the United it was a bad introduction into the MLIS having to face the defending champs. The entire night showed why the Crunch were and are the most dominant professional indoor soccer team in the country over the last 4 seasons. For those not in the know, The Crunch have won 2 league titles in four years since their return in 2021. Not only that,  the Crunch have also arguably the best total team and coach in the country. How do I know this? Simple, Saturday night The Crunch had their foot on the gas and never let up. "Man of the Match" Admir Suljevic scored 5 goals, four of them in back-to-back quarters. Cancar, Csiszar, Wolanski, and Najar all joined in on the fun to ma...

        On April 12th, 2024 the Cleveland Crunch began their playoff run with the ambition to do two things. First, avenge a 2023 playoff loss to MLIS rival Omaha, and second, add a fifth star to their team crest. On April 14th, 2024 the Crunch did just that. They first dismantled rival Rapid City in the semi-finals 11-5 and punched their ticket to the MLIS finals. Then once they learned their Opponent was another MLIS rival in the Omaha Kings. The Crunch went to work and handled business by beating the Kings 9-4 and won their second league championship in four years and their fifth in team history.  The best part about this championship is that the Crunch were playing with something to prove all season. The Crunch also were playing for something deeper in the title game as they lost two key players in the title game. Admir Suljevic and Kevin "All Good" Blackwood to in-game injuries. With those two going down the Crunch were playing with fire in their eyes and d...

                                                (photo courtesy of MLISPRO.com)   Now that the excitement of the inaugural season of Major League Indoor Soccer has died down, I figured this would be the right time. First, Congratulations to the Rapid City Football Club on winning the inaugural 2023 MLIS championship. They truly deserved it. To be honest, they were the most prepared team in the final four, but if we are being completely honest this was the first time in a long time a professional sports league got their playoff teams right on the first try. What I mean by that is this. Each team that won their division did so, then the next best teams got in based on their record. NOBODY complained or felt slighted. Could there have been a couple more teams that got in? Sure, but for the first season this was the right call. We all can agree that not ever...

     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 differentia...

     From Saint Ignatius, to Walsh University, and now the Cleveland Crunch. Bobby Tsirambidis has continued the father/son legacy as he is the second player on the team that became a second generation Crunch player. Bobby is making his mark and will be appearing in his first playoff game and possibly a road to the championship. Something his dad Tim Tsirambidis did with the Crunch back in the 90's. We were able to speak with Bobby via phone conversation and here's what he had to say.   "  O bviously your dad was an influence for soccer. What was it like growing up knowing your dad was a pro soccer player? Bobby:  When  I  was young it was cool because  I  can brag about it to my  friends, but  as  I  got older it was a weight on my shoulders. The comparison to him. A lot of expectations. Knowing you and your dad both play for the same team. W hat's  the feeling like at home? Bobby: It's cool. being abl...

                                             (photo courtesy of Cleveland Crunch Photography)    With this year's edition of the Crunch you knew there would be some changes, and some things would stay stat quo. What we didn't expect is that the rookie class of Crunch players would stand out the way they have. Michael Presby, Bobby Tsirambidis, and Merouane Sadji have all been mentioned throughout the season, but there's one name we left off. That name, Parker Csiszar! Making his debut on January 29th against  Rapid City, Parker scored 3 goals and had 4 points and one assist. To say he has been on fire in putting it lightly. Through the season so far, Parker has played in five games and scored nine(9) goals with 11 points on the season and two assists. For players new to the indoor game that would be impressive, but for the Crunch it's a sign of things to come...

      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 ga...

 Cleveland, Ohio     First off, congrats to Rapid City Fc on their win last night. For those that were in attendance at the Soccerplex last nigh you saw a barn burner. That game had everything. Action, suspense, scoring, and even some chippiness. Pretty much everything needed to have the makings of a epic rivalry. The Problem in this game was the fact that in between the action. it wasn't called fairly. Just like in Michigan a week before there were several missed calls and Rapid City then introduced FLOPPING. It was so bad that kids under the age of 10 were noticing. This flopping was so bad that several blue and yellow cards were issued against the Crunch. Yet, no cards were issued for the clearly intentional flops nor were the refs calling the game fair in our opinion.  Is this a issue in all sports? Yes, but understand in a game of this magnitude where a division title was on the line you would think the refs would be neutral and make the calls where they were cl...

   Back on February 18th the Crunch suffered their worst defeat since being back in action in 2021. An 11-5 trouncing by Rapid City Fc in Michigan.   This weekend the Crunch will be looking to avenge that loss and take over total control of the eastern division by the weekends end, and this game will be played in the friendly and often deafening confines of the Soccerplex.  Normally we would say "we know what you're thinking." and give some kind of speech about how the team is going to be fine and bounce back, but this week... that would be a lie. The Crunch are out for blood and whatever else they can collect from Rapid City. So much so that for two days straight we reached out to Crunch players and coach Benny Dargle and as of this writing still have not heard a response. Now most people would chalk that up to a team being focused, but if you've been in the would of sports you know the scariest thing you want to have happen is be the opposing team visiting a v...

    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 Crun...

 Cleveland, Ohio                                                                         (All photos courtesy of 216 sports network photography and Cleveland Crunch)           Ok, before the weekend we did say that the Crunch were primed to have a great weekend after a long layoff. What we didn't know is that the Crunch would destroy the state of Michigan with extreme malice. The Crunch swept the weekend slate, but not before enjoying and celebrating the career of Crunch great Zoran Karic Saturday night. Zoran's jersey is now immortalized in the rafters along with the championship banners from 1994,1996,1999, and 2021. To see the excitement and memories of Zoran on the field was a moment to remember. Zoran is still down to earth and a great person. After the Pre-game cer...

                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 e...

               I remember as a kid watchin the Cleveland Crunch play on tv. The World Cup only played every four years, so watching arena soccer was the next best thing. The thing that I remember the most was watching the energy of Crunch great Zoran Karic. As a fan, Zoran was someone who captivated the crowd with so much energy it that it made fans want to come on the field and play with him. We hadn't seen anything like him since Browns Great Jim Brown was running through people. His years in Cleveland will fondly be remembered as a fantastic time for Cleveland sports fans when there wasn't much to cheer about.  When you look back on those times in the 90's, for Cleveland sports fans those were some fun and also miserable times. For starters, the Browns left back in 1995 and left us without football for four years. The then Cleveland Indians had reached the World Series in 1995 and 1997 but didn't bring one home. The Cavs were abysmal. Yes ...

                    This weekend the Cleveland Crunch will open up their 2022-23 campaign with a slew of new changes, and some familiar faces. For starters, the Crunch are in a new league. Major League Indoor Soccer will be the new home for the Crunch and several other teams. Chicago, Cincinnati, Brew City(Milwaukee), and Omaha join the Crunch as core teams While Detroit, Grand Rapids, Rockford, Austin, Houston, Springfield, and Wichita are the new teams joining the MLIS. The Crunch will also be in the eastern division of MLIS which will consist of the Detroit Waza Flo, Grand Rapids( Rapid City Fc), Cincinnati Swerve, and Cleveland Crunch. The Crunch will look to continue their dominance and look for a fifth league championship and their second title in three years.  Another new change is at the helm as former Crunch/ force legend Benny Dargle is now the new Crunch head coach. Coach Dargle takes over after Lou Castelic led the Crunc...

          The Crunch are back in the MASL2 playoffs and are looking to repeat as league champs. With the semi-finals being set, the Crunch are ready to not only defend their cup from last season, but also add to the trophy case. Last season, the Crunch went through the gauntlet and defeated Wichita and brought home the cup in their first year back from a 20 year hiatus. This year the road is a little different as they are now the overall number 1 seed and finished the regular season 12-0. Which is also the first undefeated season in franchise history. This weekend the Crunch will see a familiar opponent in the Muskegon Risers in the marquee  game of the Semi-finals. Muskegon made it to the final four by defeating fellow division rival Chicago to get to see the Crunch. The old saying goes " It's hard to beat the same team multiple times in the same season.", but this is a challenge the Crunch are up for. The Risers finished the regular season 6-6, ...

 Cincinnati, Ohio     Outside of the Cleveland Cavs, The Cleveland Crunch are the only other Cleveland team to bring a title back home within the last half decade. With the playoffs looming this looks like another title could possibly be heading back to Cleveland.  The Crunch traveled to Cincy to play the Swerve and looked to go up 3-0 in the season series. Sunday afternoon the Crunch left no doubt that the road to the championship goes through "The Land"! As you can see by the graphics posted this game was a massacre so the details will be spared and get into the important things. With this win, the Crunch are now 11-0 with one final regular season game to go against the Swerve on March 19th here in Cleveland. What's even more important is that the Crunch now Literally have the best record and control the playoffs. Before you ask we'll explain. The Crunch winning in Cincy Sunday gave them not only the best record in all of M2 but also a first round bye in the playof...