EGELSTON TOWNSHIP – The Muskegon Risers men’s team has been rolling through the summer with a great deal of success, posting a 7-0-2 record.
Now the Risers have the chance to cap off their great regular season by winning a conference championship in front of their home fans on Thursday.
The Risers will host FC Columbus in a showdown for the Great Lakes Conference championship on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at Oakridge High School.
If they win or tie, the Risers will be conference champs and will head into the National Premier Soccer League playoffs as the top seed in the Midwest Region of the 96-team league. If they lose Columbus will win the title, but Muskegon will still make the playoffs.
[1]It will be a huge game for a team that did not even play the past two summers due to COVID, yet returned this season with a powerhouse roster that has dominated most opponents.
“We’ll treat it like any other game,” said Risers head coach Stu Collins about his team’s mindset going into the showdown. “But we know what’s at stake. We’d like to win a championship, and a draw would be enough for us to do that. But we have a lot of things at stake. If we win, we win the league and remain undefeated. We’ll also be ranked number two in the country.”
The Risers and Columbus played once this season, on July 2 in Ohio, and ended up with a 4-4 tie despite Muskegon having leads of 3-1 and 4-2 at various points in the game.
The Risers played that game, and several others, without starting goalkeeper Mason Maziasz, who has been injured. They are hoping he is well enough to play on Thursday.
[2]“We can learn a million things,” Collins said about what his team can take from the first matchup. “We really shouldn’t have given it away. We were in a comfortable position twice. We missed Mason Maziasz a bit in that game, I think. We really felt his absence as a calming influence. But we learned a lot about FC Columbus and the dynamic individuals they possess. Now we have video on them and can make a more educated game plan.”
Maziasz’ presence may be extra important on Thursday because Columbus has the top two goal scorers in the conference – Damani Camara with 15 goals and Michael Chillton with 10.
The Risers are just as strong offensively. They have 31 goals on the season and are tied with Columbus for the most in the conference. They simply have a more balanced attack, with a number of players finding the net on a regular basis.
The Risers been sparked recently, however, by the play of Guiseppe Barone, who has exploded for seven goals in seven games.
“His picture of the game is great,” said Collins about the midfielder. “He’s just really intelligent and has a great ability to process information. He’s comfortable with the ball and has every technical tool that you need.”
[3]Of all the wins this season, Collins said his favorite so far was a 4-1 road victory on June 25 over the Milwaukee Torrent, a strong franchise with a proud history.
“They kind of scheduled us three times thinking they’d get some points (in the standings) or maybe sweep us.” The coach said. “But we ended their season and solidified the playoffs for us. I really enjoyed that one, just because of the performance and way we played.”
If the Risers want to add another highlight to their season on Thursday night, they’ll need to continue to play the style of game that has proven to be so successful all season.
“Our ability to dominate the ball and pin teams back,” Collins said, when asked about his team’s biggest strength. “It makes it easier to dominate games. The toughest things for teams playing against us is probably our fluidity and how we interchange. Our rotations are very good and unpredictable. That’s because of our players, and really we have four or five guys who can win a game by themselves.”