MUSKEGON – The gang is back together for another run at a league championship, and that’s very good news for Muskegon Risers fans.

Last season the Risers’ winter indoor team soared to new heights, reaching the Major Arena Soccer League 2 playoff semifinals before bowing out.

The team finished with an overall 7-7 record but improved dramatically as the season progressed and put on quite a show for the big crowds that turned out for the games.

Most of the key players from that exciting team are back and will be on the field on Saturday night when the indoor Risers open their 2022-23 season with road games against the Iowa Demon Hawks (Saturday) and Iowa Raptors (Sunday).

Muskegon Risers leading scorer Miguel Flores controls the ball during a game last season. Photo/Jeremy Clark

The first home game will be Saturday, Dec. 17 at 7 p.m. at Muskegon’s Trinity Health Arena (also recently known as L.C. Walker Arena and Mercy Health Arena).

Familiar players like Miguel Flores (the league’s third leading scorer last season with 21 goals), Aldony Mendez, Alexis Mendez, TJ Ifutorati, Brandon Edwards, Colin O’Keefe, Michael Schmitt, Cody Loss, Franco Calabrese and goalie Akani Miyambu (just to name a few) will be back to try to finish what they started last season with their exciting playoff run.

Another very familiar name, former Risers goalie Michael Vollmer, is also back, but in a much different role as the Risers’ new head coach.

The Risers peaked last season with an exciting 8-2 victory over the Chicago Mustangs in the quarterfinal round of the MASL2 playoffs.

Risers defensive specialist Brandon Edwards. Photo/Tonya Pardon

Such a performance was not expected with three key offensive players – Flores, Adam Knight and Ryan Zietlow – all out with injuries, but the Risers pulled together and got it done with their season hanging in the balance.

O’Keefe and Aldony Mendez came up big in that game with two goals apiece.

The Risers came very close to making it all the way to the league championship game. They led the powerful Cleveland Crunch 5-3 with under 10 minutes left in the semifinals, following a thrilling shorthanded goal by Brandon Edwards which whipped Muskegon crowd into a frenzy.

Unfortunately Cleveland, which had won all four regular season games against the Risers, rallied late to win 6-5 and end Muskegon’s season.

Risers goalie Akani Miyambu comes out of the goal to help break up the opponents’ attack in a play last season. Photo/Tonya Pardon

The Risers had a fill-in coach for that game – Vollmer – because head coach Ben Ritsema was out of town and unavailable.

After the season Vollmer received an unexpected promotion when he was named the permanent head coach. It’s a pretty meteoric rise for a veteran player who spent most of last season as the Risers’ backup goalie, but Vollmer is ready and eager to push the Risers to more success this season.

“After the quarterfinal game against Chicago, (team owner) Matt Schmitt came up to me and mentioned that Coach Ritsema was not going to be at the semifinal game and said he thought I would be a good fit to the (interim) coach,” Vollmer said. “I was like, OK, can I do that and play? I found out I could not, so I just said I would do whatever it took to see the team do well.

“Then Matt and I had a conversation about two weeks after the season ended and he said he wanted me to remain as coach. I did not know that was going to be my path, but I accepted and made it my 100 percent goal to win a championship for Muskegon.”

As a veteran player, Vollmer has watched over the years as the indoor Risers have developed and improved on the field and their fan base has grown in size, degree of passion and knowledge of the game.

The Risers’ Aldony Mendez (19) prepares to shoot during a game last season, Photo/Jeremy Clark

“It’s amazing playing in that arena and playing in front of the people of Muskegon,” the new coach said. “it’s even more gratifying now, in 2022, because the fans totally understand. They are on every ball and know everything that’s going on. This team has been playing since 2014, and now we have longtime fans with a great understanding of the game and the nuances of the game.

“We gave them a pretty darned good product last year, and that’s something we want to build on.”

While the Risers’ roster will be familiar, the opposition will not be, at least at first.

Major Arena Soccer League 2 has upgraded its standards for team ownership and franchise participation, which scared some of the existing teams off.

Cleveland, Chicago and Cincinnati, last year’s division rivals, have left the league, and this season the Risers will be competing against three new division foes – the Rochester Lancers, Iowa Raptors and Iowa Demon Hawks in the MASL 2 Northern Conference.