This was a full weekend, there were 12 games in the matter of three days. Week 4 was full of key matches for many teams that were winless and other matches that should have been written before they were played. But like the old saying goes, it’s not over till its over, and this weekend made me look like I don’t know how to pick games. So, let’s start with Friday.

Friday, 15th of December

Milwaukee Wave 14-7 St Louis Ambush

This is the Milwaukee we were expecting that the beginning of the season. The return of Marcio Leite and Ian Bennett finding his form had the Wave looking very different. The match started in Ambush’s favor, until Mario Alverez opened the flood gates. After tying it up in the beginning of the second quarter, Milwaukee would just display how good they can be, in Q3 they would net seven unanswered goals! This is probably where the Ambush knew it was damage control time, before ending the game 7 to Milwaukee’s 14 goals.

An important note is that Milwaukee is the only team that played one game this weekend.

Monterrey Flash 10-6 Chihuahua Savage

Monterrey hands Chihuahua their first loss of the season, what is more impressive is that Flash took points from Savage in their fortress! This was not an easy game for Flash. This was a back-and-forth affair, until Monterrey found their footing. Quarters one and two, Chihuahua looked more in control and better positioned to take the points. The second half started with a goal from Chihuahua but it would be the last time they would score until the end of the game.

Monterrey would find their rhythm and score seven unanswered goals. Quarter four was an a very productive quarter for the Flash as they only had five shots on goal and converted four of those shots. Savage would put 12 shots on goal but Berna “El Sargento” Valdovinos (Sargeant) would come up huge with 18 saves for the night.

This was a huge win for Monterrey and this was just game one of two for this weekend.

Baltimore Blast 7-5 Empire Strykers

The headline for this game was the debut of Marco Fabian! The Mexican legend would be part of the starting six for Empire Strykers. However, this party would be ruined with Baltimore Blast finding their stride. This was a close match until Moises “Moy” Gonzalez kicked off the three unanswered goal run.

Baltimore gained the lead in the third quarter and would not let go of this lead. This was the first win for the Blast, and it came at the right time, as many questions were being asked of the team.

Both teams had their Mexican Stars lead the way with Moy and Fabian, both ending the game with a goal and two assists.

Saturday, 16th of December

Utica City FC 12-6 Harrisburg Heat

This was clearly Utica City’s game to win. They opened the scoring early in the first quarter and never looked back. There were moments when Harrisburg looked like a team that was ready to challenge for the win but once the second quarter rolled around, it was Utica’s game from there. Five unanswered goals proved to be too much for the Heat to bounce back from.

San Diego Sockers 8-7 Dallas Sidekicks

The match between Dallas and San Diego was probably the most surprising match this weekend. The result was the expect result, but no one would have said that Dallas was going to push San Diego like this. Throughout the match Dallas played catch up and was always down by one goal but they always found it. The game was decided with a game winning goal from Tavoy Morgan, but Dallas had an opportunity to send it to overtime with a free kick from Blas Perez. Which ultimately was block by Christian Gutierrez, some would say, A game winning block.

Kansas City Comets 9-7 Texas Outlaws

KC did what KC does. They went to the Mesquite Arena and showed why some consider them the East favorites. In the first two quarters the game was close, mainly due to the Outlaws’ Jesus Rivera standing on his head and blocks from the defenders. However, Kansas City was patient, and they found their way and ran away with this game in Q3 and Q4, outscoring the Outlaws 6 to 4 in the second half. KC were led by Zach Reget and John Sosa on points to take the victory.

Sunday, 17th of December

St Louis Ambush 5-1 Dallas Sidekicks

Heavy legs were the cause for Dallas’ fall. Having played less than 24 hours earlier Dallas would take on a “rested” St Louis Ambush. This was not a high scoring game, but St Louis looked like the better of the two. They had more shots on goal, were the aggressor out of the two, and Paulo Nascimento had an outstanding performance with 11 saves against 12 shots on goal. These three points were key to the Ambush’s victory.

Monterrey 3-2 Chihuahua Savage

THIS WAS A STATEMENT WIN! What a weekend for Monterrey, they swept the current defending MASL champion, and one was at Corner Sports Arena.

This game was a tough battle, three blue cards (think Hockey’s sin bin) and two yellow cards were given out. Despite the physical game, Monterrey had some positive takeaways. Hernandez keeps getting better, he had 25 saves on the night. Edgar Torrez Gonzales returned for this game and scored a goal.

Is it still too early to say Monterrey is for real?

Utica City FC 11-8 Harrisburg Heat

Game number two for the Utica vs Harrisburg back-to-back went similar to game one. Utica opened the scoring, Harrisburg fought back a bit, but Utica’s goal output proved to be too much. It should be noted that Utica’s weekend sweep was carried out without Gordy Gurson and no goals from Franck Tayou.

Texas Outlaws 7-6 Kansas City Comets

Round two, this time the Outlaws came to Cable Dahmer Arena with one goal, revenge. Just like in Mesquite, the home side opened the scoring and similar to game one, the first half was close and fought hard. However, this time it would be Texas that would control the second half. The young Outlaws would prove to be able to hang on the back-to-backs, ultimately outshooting the Comets 42-37. Captain David Ortiz and Luiz Morales would both end the night with 2 goals and 2 assists.

Jorge Deleon, Christian Anderaos, and Emmanuel Aguirre

Tacoma Stars 7-4 Baltimore Blast

Going into the weekend, many people, including myself, did not have Baltimore taken any points this weekend. They shocked everyone with a win over Empire but the task in accesso ShoWare Center would prove to be too tall. Stars were the first to score and would never lose that lead throughout the full game. Baltimore did show signs of hope and came close to tying the affair, but Tacoma was prepared and pulled away again.

The positives from this game, for Baltimore, there’s signs of what’s to come for the team and rookie Jairo Guevara scored points from both games this weekend. The positive for Tacoma, they have a win and Nick is in his MVP form yet again.

San Diego Sockers 7-3 Empire Strykers

The Sockers vs the Strykers, Marco Fabian takes on Kraig Chiles. This was supposed to be the game of the weekend, but to me, this did not live up to the buildup. San Diego was in control the whole game. All three forwards for the Sockers, Tavoy, Chiles, and Costa were active and got points on the night. It was the midfield for the Sockers that were the impressive ones. Controlling the speed of the game and preventing the Empire from finding their game is what ended up winning the game for SD.

- Geo Monterroso

While Geo is a contributing writer for Protagonist Soccer, he’s also the founder and host of the Goals N Boards. It’s the best podcast strictly devoted to MASL.