Five Games to Savor Before the Christmas Break

Major League Indoor Soccer's third weekend will feature five games, including home openers for the Austin Emerald, Rapid City FC, Chicago Mustangs, and Detroit Waza Flo. After Sunday's game, the league will be off for 13 days so this weekend is a good chance to get your indoor soccer fix.

Saturday's Games

Houston Bolt (0-0) at Austin Emerald (0-1)

The Houston Bolt will be making history and the Austin Emerald will be looking to rewrite history. Houston will take the floor in MLIS for the first time, while Austin will be trying to show they belong after dropping their debut 24-1 in Springfield last week. Both teams moved up to the pro level from the PASL, where the Bolt beat the Emerald 7-3 in their last meeting in January.

Cleveland Crunch (0-1) at Rapid City FC (1-0)

The Cleveland Crunch and Rapid City FC have each played one game this season, with Rapid City easily winning 8-1 in Cincinnati, and Cleveland dropping a 9-8 heartbreaker to the same Cincinnati Swerve team. The Crunch were 12-0 in M2 last year and held an 8-5 lead early in the third quarter last Saturday before Cincinnati rallied. Now, the Crunch want to avoid falling two games behind Rapid City in the early standings. Cleveland will have M2 Offensive Player of the Year Admir Suljevic back as well as star goalkeeper Marijo Musa, who both missed the season opener. The Crunch also have signed Bobby Tsirambidis, son of former Crunch player Tim Tsirambidis.

Brew City Legends (0-1) at Chicago Mustangs (1-0)

The Chicago Mustangs looked strong in their road opener, a 7-4 win over the Illinois State Line Falcons, while the Brew City Legends struggled at home in an 8-0 loss to the Omaha Kings. Does that mean the Legends are primed for a Swerve-style upset? Both teams are somewhat familiar with each other having both fielded PASL teams the last few years. 

Detroit Waza Flo (0-0) at Cincinnati Swerve (1-1)

Detroit and Cincinnati were two of the fiercest rivals in the Professional Arena Soccer League and now that rivalry will be rekindled in MLIS. The Scicluna name is synonymous with indoor soccer in Detroit and brothers Mario and Dominic Scicluna extended the Waza Flo legacy by joining MLIS this year.  The Waza Flo were two time PASL-Pro finalists and won the 2012-13 US Open Arena Soccer Championship. Cincinnati is flying high after rallying to beat Cleveland 9-8 last week.

Sunday's Game

Cleveland Crunch at Detroit Waza Flo

Cleveland and Detroit become the first MLIS teams to play on back-to-back nights. Cleveland will be playing their third straight road game overall, while Detroit will be hosting their home opener. Sunday's game will be the Waza Flo's first professional home game since March 2, 2019.