Indoor Soccer's Final Four Set
The four teams in this season's Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) are set. The San Diego Sockers will face the Chihuahua Savage in the Western Conference final while the surprising Milwaukee Wave will play the Kansas City Comets in the Eastern Conference final.
The big news in the conference semifinals was Milwaukee's elimination of the heavily favored Monterrey Flash which had finished the MASL regular season undefeated at 24-0. The Flash opened the playoff series edging the Wave 8-7 in Milwaukee, but the Wave won game two 5-4 then the 15-minute tiebreaker game 2-1 to stun Monterrey on their home field. Each game in the series was won in overtime.
The Comets became the only team in this season's semifinal round to sweep their series and they used a come-from-behind effort to beat Utica 7-5 to advance to the Conference Finals against the Milwaukee Wave. With the win, both of the Eastern Conference's top seeds have been eliminated from the playoffs with Utica City FC joining the Monterrey Flash on the sidelines.
The San Diego Sockers are no strangers to playoff time. The Sockers' Brandon Escoto scored a hat trick in Match Two and added a goal in the Knockout Game, as the Sockers advanced past the Texas Outlaws in the MASL Ron Newman Cup Western Division Semifinals, winning Match Two 8-3 to force a 15-minute Knockout Game, then prevailing 4-0 to win the series 2-1. Goalkeeper Boris Pardo led the way with 17-of-20 saves over the two matches.
The Chihuahua Savage lost their Western Conference semifinal opener to the Tacoma Stars 6-5 but won 7-5 and 5-0 at home to meet the Sockers in the conference final. The Savage are seeking to repeat as MASL champions. Chihuahua won last year's meeting with the Sockers 6-5, 2-6, 1-0.
Conference SemifinalsTacoma 6, Chihuahua 5
Conference Finals
Kansas City vs. Milwaukee
Thursday, April 18 at Milwaukee
San Diego vs. Chihuahua
Friday, April 19 at Chihuahua
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