April 7, 2024

PARK CITY, Kansas - The Rochester Lancers fell short of their quest for the Major Arena Soccer League 2 championship as the Iowa Demon Hawks recorded an 8-3 win to capture the M2 crown at Hartman Arena on Sunday.

Lancers captain Alex Harling received the second-place trophy. It was the second indoor piece of hardware the indoor team has secured, after finishing third in the 2019 M2 playoffs.

The final was a battle between the two best M2 sides, a pair of unbeaten teams.

The top-seeded Demon Hawks, who have several members of the Brazilian futsal national team on their roster, finished the season at 15-0, while the second-seeded Lancers (14-1) suffered their first loss of the campaign.

The Lancers were vying for their second championship in their 57-year history, having secured the 1970 North American Soccer League title.

Both goalkeepers had their moments. Iowa keeper Rainer Hauss, selected as the third star of the match, was outstanding, making several vital stops and finishing with 12 saves. Jakeb Mitchell produced 14 saves to keep Rochester in the game.

Taner Bay, August Finn and Rodrigo Almeida scored for the Lancers.

Bruno Henrique, who was named the Chico Borja playoff MVP, registered a hat-trick for the Demon Hawks. Thiago Freitas, who was named the No. 1 star of the match, contributed two goals and two assists.

"I'm really proud of our Lancer players," Lancers owner SoccerSam Fantauzzo said. "This was a great game and Darwin [Salas, Demon Hawks owner] and his team are amazing players. We'll see what happens next year, but we did an amazing job this year. All local guys given their all. Coach of the year [Jake Schindler] and I'm so proud of them."

After their epic, 10-9 overtime victory over the Wichita Wings on Saturday night, the Lancers came out with tired legs as Iowa dominated the opening quarter by taking a 3-0 lead.

Six players figured in those goals. Murilo Ceruli slotted home a rebound of a Mitchell save into the net at 3:16. Felipe Silva was credited with an assist. Lucas Silva doubled the score at 8:36 with a smash from the middle of the box off a Freitas feed. Raphael Nascimento set up Henrique's tally from the left side at 10:12.

Forced to play catch-up for the first time this season, the Lancers showed their resiliency pulling within 3-2 in the early part of the second period. Bay, the sudden-death OT hero on Saturday, put in his own rebound of a Hauss save 46 seconds into the quarter for a power-play goal to slice the deficit to 3-1. Ceruli had been assessed a blue card and a two-minute penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct with 10 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

Finn, off an Almeida feed, drilled the ball past Hauss from the left side of the yellow line at 8:58 for the Lancers' second goal.

Joao Vitor then scored off a brilliant individual run on the left flank, depositing the ball into the lower right corner at 12:23. Lucas Silva received the assist. 

The Lancers decided to go to a sixth attacker, defender-head coach Jake Schindler, in the final minute of the quarter. After a Rochester foul at midfield, Iowa took a quick free kick despite having an injured player on the field. With Schindler out of the net, Freitas scored with nine seconds left in the half to take a 5-2 advantage into the locker room.

Henrique, off a fine individual run in which he ran through the defense, increased the Demon Hawks' lead to 6-2 at 3:11 of the third period.

But Rochester refused to wilt as Almeida stole the ball from Lucas Silva and scored from the top of the penalty area to pull the team within three goals at 5:32 of the fourth quarter.

The Demon Hawks put the game away with two late goals in the period. Henrique slipped in a rebound of a Mitchell save to increase their lead to 7-3 with 4:42remaining in the game before Freitas scored into an empty net as Rochester had Schindler as a sixth attacker on the field.

Forward Andrew Hoxie, who scored twice in Saturday night's semifinal win, was injured and missed the first half before entering the fray in the fourth quarter. He took several shots but could not solve the Iowa backline or Hauss.

The Amarillo Bombers defeated the host Wichita Wings in the third-place match earlier in the day, 10-7.