MUSKEGON – For quite a few years now, there has been one player, more than any other, that the Muskegon Risers have turned to in tense situations, and he always seems to put the ball in the net in the most dramatic moments.

Miguel Flores, the longtime “face of the franchise,” did it again on Saturday night.

Flores scored two goals in regulation to help the Risers stick with the Cincinnati Swerve and force a very tight game to overtime.

Then he completed a three-goal hat trick at the best time of all, scoring just 15 seconds into overtime to give the Risers a thrilling come-from-behind 7-6 victory at Mercy Health Arena.

The game-winner came when the Risers got a free kick just outside the Cincinnati box. Muskegon’s Michael Schmitt tapped a short pass to Flores, who kicked home the winner and sent the home crowd into a frenzy

“It was just a matter of believing in our instincts,” Flores said. “We’ve been practicing that play, and I was fortunate enough to get it in the net. It means a lot to have my team trust me in those situations, and I will make those plays.”

The Risers improved to 3-4 on the season and ended a two-game losing streak. They are now in second place in the Great Lakes Division of the Major Arena Soccer League 2 with nine points in the standings, three points ahead of third-place Chicago.

The top two teams in the division will quality for the playoffs.

“Too many to count,” Risers coach Ben Ritsema said, when asked how many game-winning goals Flores has scored over the years. “He works so hard, and putting that one in was huge for us. It helped to keep our playoff hopes alive.”

Flores’ final goal was not the only dramatic score of the night.

The Risers spent most of the fourth quarter looking for a game-tying goal after falling behind 6-5 just 1:17 into the quarter.

They came close on a number of occasions. One shot, on a power play, bounced off one goal post and then the other before rolling harmlessly away. Another shot, by Flores, also hit a post and bounced away.

The Risers finally pulled their goalie for an extra attacker in the final minutes, and the risky strategy paid off when Brandon Edwards scored from close range with 1:47 remaining, forcing the tie and the overtime period.

The Risers never quit, and finally got the goals they needed.

“The guys worked really hard,” Ritsema said. “We had six guys out with injuries tonight, some guys were playing their very first arena game, and we needed to win. Things weren’t going our way, we let in some really bad goals, but we kept fighting and got the win.”

The back-and-forth contest took a lot of twists and turns, with each team holding the lead at different times.

The teams traded goals in the first quarter, with Cincinnati getting tallies from Eric Moser, Abe Kanneh and Jacob Peters, and Muskegon getting goals from Steve Merker and Flores.

The Swerve led 3-2 at the end of the first.

Muskegon scored the only goal of the second quarter when Taichi Yamada found the net with only 26 seconds left in the half, and the score was tied 3-3 at halftime.

Moser scored again for the Swerve at 2:11 of the third quarter, putting Cincinnati up by one. Muskegon appeared to tie the game a short time later, but the goal was disallowed because the referee claimed that the ball had been touched by a Cincinnati player’s hand before the goal.

The play was never whistled dead, but on review the ref said it should have been. Ritsema was livid over the call and let the officials know it for several angry minutes.

“The ref didn’t see it,” Ritsema said about the handball call. “The fourth official saw it across the field, but the play went on for another 15 or 20 seconds and they never whistled it dead.

“If the ref doesn’t see it, the ref doesn’t see it. It was ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous.”

Flores tied the game at 4-4 with his second goal at 8:58 of the third quarter, and that was the score headed into the fourth.

The Risers took a 5-4 lead with a goal by Francesco Calabrese just 15 seconds in the fourth quarter, but Cincinnati followed with two quick goals by Kanneh and Anders Michelson to take a 6-5 lead just 1:17 into the quarter.

The Risers spent the rest of the quarter battling for the tying goal, until Edwards finally put a shot in with 1:47 left on the clock.

Muskegon goalie Akani Miyambu made several big diving savings in the final seconds of regulation to preserve the tie.