MUSKEGON – Paybacks can be great motivation, and the Muskegon Risers certainly owed the Chicago Mustangs a good whipping.
Two weeks ago the Risers went to Chicago and suffered a humbling 10-goal loss. It was their second straight defeat and left them two games below .500 with questionable hopes for making the Major Arena Soccer League 2 playoffs.
Things have changed quite a bit since then, as the Mustangs found out in a painful way on Saturday night at Muskegon’s Mercy Health Arena.
The Risers turned the tables on the Chicago crew in equally humbling fashion, winning an amazingly easy 13-2 walkaway in a key battle between conference rivals.
The victory was the second in a row for the Risers, who improved to 4-4 on the season and secured their spot in second place in the Great Lakes Conference standings.
[1]The Risers now have a six-point lead over Chicago in the race for the second and final playoff spot in the conference. Muskegon has four regular season games remaining while Chicago has six.
Teams get three points in the standings for a victory and none for a loss, so every possible win over the last four games will be critical for Muskegon.
“We knew we were better than a 10-goal difference with them,” said Risers Coach Ben Ritsema about the ugly loss in Chicago. “We were maybe a little embarrassed by that, and we were ready to go tonight.
“I liked the way we came out and got a lead for a change. And I liked only giving up two goals. We played great team defense.
“We changed some things up a bit, we got some players back from injuries, and we got great goaltending, great defense and scored some really pretty goals tonight.”
[2]Veteran forward Miguel Flores was once again the hero. A week after scoring three goals in a victory over Cincinnati, Flores popped in four goals against Chicago to bring his team-leading total to 16.
Another familiar name, TJ Ifaturoti, also had a huge night, recording his first three goals of the season. Ifaturoti is a Risers veteran who lives in Grand Rapids, but he had not been able to play before Saturday for a variety of reasons.
“This was TJ’s first game,” Ritsema said. “He had an ankle injury and he’s been on some family vacations that were planned. He makes a big difference for us. He’s very calm and very smart with the ball. He’s a great all-around player.”
Ifaturoti said he was very pleased to see how the Risers have developed in his absence.
“I was excited to be back,” he said. “The fans were great tonight, my teammates were great and our coach had a great game plan for us. I am proud of the boys. It was a great team effort.”
[3]When asked if he will finish the rest of the season with the Risers, Ifaturoti said, “The goal is to, but I can’t make any promises. I hope to, but we will just have to see.”
The romp started right away for the Risers, who led 5-2 after one quarter after getting two goals from Ifaturoti and one apiece from Flores, Adam Knight and Aldony Mendez.
Knight, Flores, Mendez and Colin O’Keefe added single tallies in the second quarter and the Risers led 9-2 at halftime.
Flores and Brandon Edwards scored in the third quarter for Muskegon while Flores and Ifaturoti scored in the fourth.
The Risers had a 26-11 advantage in shots on goal. Muskegon goalkeeper Akani Miyambu got the win, making a lot of strong saves for most of the game before being relieved by Michael Vollmer in the fourth quarter.
The Risers will travel to play undefeated conference leader Cleveland next weekend, before returning home to play Cincinnati on Feb. 19.