MUSKEGON – The Muskegon Risers have figured for weeks that they would probably make the Major Arena Soccer League 2 playoffs – they just weren’t sure who they would play or where or when.

It all became clear after the Risers’ 6-5 victory over Cincinnati on the road on Saturday in their final game of the regular season.

The Risers, 6-6 on the season, clinched a playoff spot by finishing in second place in the league’s Great Lakes Division behind the undefeated Cleveland Crunch.

The early assumption had been that the Risers would have to travel to Cleveland to play the Crunch in their first playoff game, which would have been a very big assignment, indeed.

But as it turns out, Cleveland finished with the best overall record in the league and therefore earned an automatic bid to the league’s semifinal game.

That means the Risers will host the third-place Chicago Mustangs in a playoff game on April 2 at 7 p.m. at Muskegon’s Mercy Health Arena.

The winner of that contest will move on to the league’s Final Four championship tournament April 8-10, in a yet-to-be-determined host city.

“We’re super excited – thrilled – overjoyed,” said Risers Coach Ben Ritsema about sealing up a playoff berth and getting a home game. “This will be the first-ever playoff appearance for a Risers team, and we get to host. It’s like a double Christmas morning!”

The really lucky team in the scenario is Chicago, which would not have made the playoffs if Cleveland had not sealed up the top overall seed and the first-round bye.

But Ritsema knows that Chicago will be no patsy in the playoff game. The Risers and Mustangs split their regular season series 2-2, with each team winning both of their home games against each other.

“With Chicago, it will depend on what players they have available,” Ritsema said. “You just never know. We have an injury bug right now, so our roster is going to look different.

“It’s going to be a tight and close game. We’ll see how we do.”

One big question for the Risers will be the availability of leading scorer Miguel Flores, who injured a knee in Muskegon’s last home game on March 5.

“It was a sprained knee, and they said it would require three to four weeks of rehab, so we’ll see,” Ritsema said. “It will have to be a game-time decision. He injured his knee on the fifth, so it’s hard to say right now.”

The positive note is that the Risers played without Flores last Saturday in Cincinnati and managed to come from behind and win 6-5 in an unusually low-scoring game.

The Risers trailed by three goals at halftime, then held the home team two only two goals in the second half and stole the win.

“We just had to be more aggressive up front (in the second half),” Ritsema said. “Their goalie made some great saves, and we were unlucky with finishing. But in the second half we finished much better and our defense was absolutely stellar.”