MASL Weekly - Week 19
Published on March 4, 2015 under Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) News Release
Mustangs Get First Blood, Sidekicks and Legends Advance
3/4/15 - The Chicago Mustangs are still defending MASL Newman Cup champions despite a wildly uneven regular season. After two poor road outings to end the regular season, the Mustangs returned to form again and beat the Milwaukee Wave 6-3 in Game 1 of the best-of-three series.
Chicago trailed 3-2 until midway through the third quarter when Hewerton Moreira scored his second goal of the game. In the fourth quarter Hewerton set up Wilo Martinez on a breakaway to give Chicago their first lead of the night. Taylor Bond gave the Mustangs breathing room by tapping in a Guilherme Veiga pass on the end of a two-on-none break and Bond scored an empty net goal at the end for the final margin.
In Dallas on Sunday, the Sidekicks ended two years of playoff futility by rallying to beat Oxford City FC of Texas 6-5 to advance to the Southern Division Final against the Monterrey Flash. Dallas trailed 4-2 going into the fourth quarter, but after goals by Cody Ellis and Freddy Moojen, Nestor Hernandez scored the go-ahead goal twice for the win.
The Sidekicks will have their hands full with the 18-2 Flash, but they have Hernandez, who missed 14 games this year, back, and goalkeeper Sagu made his first start since January 24.
Sunday's late game saw the Ontario Fury lose a heartbreaker, 6-5, to the Las Vegas Legends before 4,072 at Citizens Business Bank Arena. The Fury, making their first playoff appearance, pushed Las Vegas to the limit, but the Legends advance to play the San Diego Sockers in the playoffs for the third straight year.
This week will see the Rochester Lancers and Syracuse Silver Knights open their series on Thursday. They will meet for the seventh and eighth times this year (and a ninth time, if necessary).
On Saturday the Mustangs and Wave conclude their series in Milwaukee, and the Sockers and Legends will meet. On Sunday, Dallas will head down to Mexico to continue their historic rivalry with Monterrey.
MASL Team of the Week
GK - Bryan O'Quinn, Syracuse Silver Knights
O'Quinn recorded 13 saves in a win over Detroit. He allowed only three goals and earned his 7th victory of the season.
D - Marcos Chantel, Syracuse Silver Knights
After an unfortunate injury to Nelson Santana, Chantel took over as captain for the Silver Knights and led his team to a victory over the Detroit. He chipped in a goal and played solid defensively the entire game.
D - Pat Healey, Baltimore Blast
Healey, who leads the Blast in assists, recorded four more in two games this weekend. He recorded one in a victory over Harrisburg and then three more on Sunday in Rochester. He also added a game tying goal in the fourth quarter helping the Blast defeat the Lancers.
M - Patrick Thompson, Harrisburg Heat
Thompson recorded three goals and two assists this weekend in two games. The Heat played the Blast tough on Friday night and then defeated the Detroit Waza Flo in their final game of the season.
F - Moises Gonzalez, Brownsville Barracudas
In two games this weekend Gonzalez recorded three goals on Friday night and then came back on Saturday and led Brownsville to a win with four more goals. Gonzalez leads the Barracudas with 41 points on the season. The rookie finished 11th in the league with 30 goals.
F - Joey Tavernese, Rochester Lancers
Tavernese recorded four goals and added two assists in Sunday's game against the Blast. Tavernese and the Lancers were able to put up a season-high 11 goals on a Blast defense who has allowed the fewest points in the league.
Playoff Peak Performers
F - Hewerton Moreira, Chicago Mustangs
Scored two goals and an assist in the Mustangs victory over the Wave in Game 1.
GK - Jesus Flores, Chicago Mustangs
Recorded 18 saves and held Milwaukee to only three goals in Game 1 victory.
F - Nestor Hernandez, Dallas Sidekicks
Recorded two goals and an assist in the 4th quarter in a comeback victory against Oxford City FC of Texas to win the Southern Division Playoff.
D - Kiley Couch, Dallas Sidekicks
Recorded three blocks in victory over Texas Oxford City and helped Sidekicks advance to Southern Division Final.
M - Felipe Gonzalez, Las Vegas Legends
Scored two goals for the Legends including the game winning goal against Ontario. Recorded three blocks including a big clearance off the line on a Fury power play.
D - Uzi Tayou, Las Vegas
Recorded two goals and more importantly kept Ontario's top scorers from scoring.
Kick Starters - Conversations you should be having about the MASL
MASL Taps GoLive for Live Webcasts
Every MASL game will be broadcast live on GoLive Sports Cast this year. All games will also be archived on GoLive at http://golivesportscast.com/video-schedule/.
Lancers Set New Attendance Mark
The Rochester Lancers played in front of a record crowd of 10,215 Sunday, surpassing the 9,627 who welcomed the Monterrey Flash to the league on 11/2/13.
To Vini, From Max
Vini Dantas scored the Blast's first four goals in their win at the Harrisburg Heat and all four goals were assisted by Max Ferdinand.
Brownsville Gets Last Word
The Brownsville Barracudas finally lost to the Saltillo Rancho Seco on the penultimate game of the season, but Brownsville won the finale the next day. Brownsville finished 4-1 against Saltillo and 0-15 against the rest of the league. Saltillo finished 2-17.
The Week Ahead
Playoffs
Syracuse Rochester Thu, Mar 05 7:05 pm Blue Cross
Chicago Milwaukee Sat, Mar 07 3:05 pm UW-M P Arena
Chicago Milwaukee Sat, Mar 07 5:35 pm UW-M P Arena*
Las Vegas San Diego Sat, Mar 07 7:05 pm VV Casino Arena
Rochester Syracuse Sun, Mar 08 4:00 pm Oncenter
Dallas Monterrey Sun, Mar 08 5:05 pm Arena Monterrey
Rochester Syracuse Sun, Mar 08 6:30 pm Oncenter* *if necessary
All Times Local
Major Arena Soccer League Stories from March 4, 2015
- Chris Toth Named a HOC Star of the Month for February - San Diego Sockers
- Pair of Mustangs Make MASL Team of the Week - Chicago Mustangs
- Wave Look to Advance in MASL Playoffs Saturday Afternoon - Milwaukee Wave
- Tavernese Earns League Team of the Week - Rochester Lancers
- Pat Healey Named to MASL Team of the Week - Baltimore Blast
- MASL Weekly - Week 19 - MASL
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