While the majority of the soccer world is still early in their seasons (or not even kicked off in most amateur leagues), the Major Indoor Soccer League (MASL) just crowned its champion after a spirited two-leg final between the league’s biggest powerhouse clubs.

San Diego Sockers and Chihuahua Savage finished the season with identical records (goal differential was vastly different with Savage having a mind-boggling +104 in 24 matches) and looked to be favorites heading into the playoffs. Both teams rolled through their respective opponents and the two-leg end of the season was everything indoor soccer fans could have hoped for.

Chihuahua is no ordinary soccer club. The Savage have been the best team in the league since joining four seasons ago. In those four years, the team has won three MASL championships and simply blown the doors off the rest of the competition. One has to wonder how the team even stays motivated, given the level of dominance they’ve established in this league. This season the Savage scored 204 goals (no one else scored over 180) and only gave up 114 (the best in the league). While the Sockers were good this season, it didn’t seem possible that the Savage could lose in this final.

But in the first leg, played in San Diego, the Sockers did manage to steal a win and inspire hope of an upset. Most shocking was San Diego outshooting Savage 28-23. While superstar forward Hugo Puentes did manage to score four goals in the match, it wasn’t enough for Chihuahua, who lost the match 5-7. That set up for an epic second leg in Mexico, where San Diego would have two chances to knockout the two-time champs.

Of course, that didn’t happen.

Chihuahua actually went down early at home. At one point, the champions were down 3-1 and San Diego looked every bit the upset candidate. But Savage went on a 9-3 run, eventually winning the second match 10-6. Puentes added another 2 goals to his finals tally and won man of the match. The win triggered a 15-minute tiebreaker match.

Just a quick note on optics, I love that the teams changed jerseys for the tiebreaker. It changed the look for the viewing audience and a great idea overall.

The second match of the night wasn’t even close. Chihuahua outshot the Sockers 12-4 and delivered a 6-0 win for their fans and crowned themselves MASL champions for a third consecutive year. Puentes was named finals MVP. But the excellence doesn’t stop with just their D1 team, the club’s MASL2 and MASLW teams also won their respective championships.

It was a great final and the best club in the league hoisted the Ron Newman Cup again.

- Dan Vaughn