April 7, 2024

PARK CITY, Kansas - The Rochester Lancers will play for the Major Arena Soccer League 2 championship.

In an epic battle between two undefeated teams, the Lancers registered a dramatic 10-9 sudden-death overtime victory over the Wichita Wings in the semifinals at Hartman Arena on Saturday night.

Taner Bay scored his second goal of the match with 1:54 remaining in OT to lift Rochester into the final.

"We knew they were going to be good," Bay said. "We knew it was going to be a fight from the beginning. It's a game of runs. We got up early and they came back. We got up again, they came back, and they turned it around on us. So, we know it's going be a fight and we're here to fight."

The Lancers (14-0) will meet the Iowa Demon Hawks (14-0) for the M2 crown at 5 p.m. ET on Sunday. The Wings dropped to 12-1-1.

Asked if the Lancers were going to change anything for the Demon Hawks, Bay replied: "We always want to play our way. We know how teams are coming. We want to play our way, play our style. We played them a couple of times last year too. So, we kind of know what we're coming into. It's going to be another fight, another great game."

Domenico Vitale started the scoring sequence on the game-winner with a shot to Ali Alomari on the left side. Alomari passed to Bay in the middle of the box and Bay slotted it home for one of the most dramatic goals in the team's 57-year history.

Alomari led Rochester with two goals and two assists. Andrew Hoxie (one assist) and Rodrigo Almeida added two goals and player-coach Jake Schindler and team captain Alex Harling contributed one apiece.

Mehrshad Ahmadi tallied a game-high five goals and one assist for the Wings, and was named the No. 1 star of the match. Hoxie was selected as the No. 2 star.

The Lancers grabbed a 3-0 advantage only 4:43 into the game.

Alomari lifted them into the lead with a hard drive from the right side at 2:38, off a Davinson Diaz feed. Rodrigo Almeida doubled the advantage at 4:17, when he beat his man and then goalkeeper Jose Ocampo. Alomari struck for his second of the quarter on what was a gift by Ocampo. Ocampo was out of the box and mistakenly slipped the ball to Alomari, who had an easy long-range shot into an unattended net for a three-goal margin.

The Wings, however, battled back.

David Lucio got the hosts on the scoreboard, nutmegging Lancers keeper Jakeb Mitchell from the right flank at 6:20. Kevin Ten Eyck was credited with the assist.

Schindler restored Rochester's three-goal lead, banging a free kick off the right post at 8:50. 

Ahmadi closed out the scoring in the second period for Wichita scored off a hard shot at 11:06 as the Lancers enjoyed a 4-2 advantage. Jared Robbins assisted.

The Wings dominated the second quarter and were rewarded with a goal as Taylor Henry tallied inside the penalty area, off a Caique Trivelato feed at 12:08, slicing the Lancers' lead to 4-3 at halftime. Rochester's defense cleared the ball out of the goalmouth several times in the period.

Ahmadi pulled Wichita into a 4-4 deadlock, scoring only 66 seconds in the third quarter, with right-sided shot off a Lucio feed.

That seemed to wake up the Lancers, who struck for three consecutive goals over a 2:19 span to take a 7-4 advantage. The Wings' Kieran Laking was assessed a two-minute penalty, a yellow card and then a red card after boarding Matt D'Amico at 8:27.

Hoxie then recorded his first point with Rochester, sending a pass from the right point to an unmarked Bay at the far-left post for a power-play goal and a 5-4 edge.

The Lancers were relentless Alomari sent Harling a pass that the defender drilled home from long range for a two-goal margin at 9:59.

Almeida drilled home a shot from the right side to lift Rochester to a 7-4 lead at 10:23.

The Wings, however, were far from dead as they started yet another comeback in what turned into an epic fourth quarter.

Wichita stormed back with three consecutive tallies to knot the match up at 7-7. Ahmadi scored off a difficult angle from the left flank into the far-right post at 2:57. Then Trivelato put one away at 4:59 before Ahmadi scored the hosts' seventh goal at 6:49 with a wonderful volley on the right side.

Then it was the Lancers' turn to score as Hoxie buried his first goal of the playoffs, off a Vitale assist, 8:22. But Wichita equalized only 36 seconds later at 8:21on Ahmadi’s fifth goal.

Trivelato boosted the hosts into the lead with a fine individual effort after stealing the ball, at 9:21.

The Lancers deployed Schindler as a sixth attacker with 3:14 left and the strategy paid off. Hoxie struck for his second of the quarter off a Davinson Diaz feed with only 1:19 remaining in regulation to set up Rochester's OT heroics.