MUSKEGON – The Muskegon Risers might have been missing three of their top four scorers for Saturday’s do-or-die playoff game, but they still had some wily veterans around who know how to score, and they got the job done when it mattered the most.
First there was Colin O’Keefe, a big-league indoor soccer player who’s been on loan to the Risers since midseason and scored two huge goals.
Then there was longtime Riser Aldony Mendez, a part-time player this year, who also scored twice, along with familiar veterans TJ Ifaturoti and Alexis Mendez, who both found the net once.
Add in some spectacular goaltending by rookie Akani Miyambu, some great defense and two other timely goals, and the shorthanded Risers had the recipe for a surprisingly easy 8-2 victory over the Chicago Mustangs in a Major Arena Soccer League 2 playoff showdown at Mercy Health Arena.
The victory propelled the Risers into the league’s Championship Weekend, which will be played in Muskegon next Friday (two semifinal games) and Sunday (the league championship game).
[1]The Risers will play on Friday at either 4 or 7 p.m. against a yet-to-be-determined opponent. Details of the Final Four matchups are expected within a day or two.
But whoever they play, and however it turns out, the Risers can say they pulled together and made the league Final Four with three big offensive weapons – Miguel Flores, Ryan Zietlow and Adam Knight – missing from the lineup.
“It’s hard for me to put into words right now,” said a joyous Risers head coach Ben Ritsema. “It’s such a tough league, and to make the final four is kind of like a dream come true. I remember going through some seasons that were really tough, a lot of these guys were on those teams, and now they are rewarded with this.
“I can’t say enough how proud I am of all of these players.”
O’Keefe, who played a huge role for the shorthanded Risers, didn’t even expect to play in Muskegon this season. He’s the property of Harrisburg in the Major Indoor Soccer League, but didn’t get much playing time and came to the Risers on loan during the season.
[2]The demotion might have upset a lot of big-league players, but O’Keefe had a connection to Muskegon, since he played for the Risers last spring in a three-game exhibition season and had fond memories of the town and team.
He was happy he was available to score some big goals when then the Risers really needed them.
“I love Muskegon, I love the fans, I love the team and my coach,” O’Keefe said. “In Harrisburg I felt like I should have been playing more, things didn’t go my way, so I came to Muskegon and look what happened!
“We’re missing our star player (Flores), a 20-goal scorer, and Zietlow, there’s another 15 goals, so there was some pressure tonight, but I’m glad we got it done.”
The other big hero of the game was Miyambu, who made some spectacular saves for three quarters of the game, and held Chicago scoreless in the first half, which is almost unheard of in high-scoring indoor soccer.
Miyambu ended up stopping 12 of 13 shots he faced – many with leaping or diving saves – before he had to come out of the game early in the fourth quarter with a slight hip injury.
[3]“We had to make history tonight,” said Miyambu, who added that he should be fine for next weekend’s semifinals. “It was about making my family proud and my team proud. Everyone had to do their roles tonight, and it was really cool to see everyone pull together.”
“He did wonderful, he was great,” said Ritsema about his goalie. “You’re not winning in this league if you don’t have a good goaltender, because there is so much offense. I figured we were going to need eight or nine goals to win, but I did not think we were going to hold them to two goals.”
The Risers played with confidence from the beginning of the game, despite missing so many stars.
Taichi Yamada and Franco Calabrese scored first quarter goals, Mayambu made some great saves, and the Risers led 2-0 at the end of one.
O’Keefe scored his first goal of the night at 7:03 of the second quarter, and Muskegon had a 3-0 lead at halftime.
Chicago’s Richardo Orozco scored a shorthanded goal early in the third quarter, making the score 3-1, but O’Keefe found the mark again at 10:27 of the third, and the Risers led 4-1 heading into the fourth quarter.
Miyambo had to leave the game early in the final quarter, due to his injury, and was ably replaced by veteran backup Michael Vollmer.
Chicago’s Michael Marchionna scored at 2:47 of the fourth to make the score 4-2, but the Risers responded with goals by Ifaturoti, Aldony Mendez, Alexis Mendez, then another by Aldony Mendez, to ice the victory in front of a big, excited crowd.
Ritsema said he wasn’t surprised to see the veterans come through when they were needed, because they’ve been through a lot of wars.
“They’ve been playing for several years now, and they know what to do,” the coach said.