Chihuahua Savage II dominate to win MASL 2 championship

MESQUITE, Texas -- The Chihuahua Savage II left little doubt who was the best in Major Arena Soccer League 2 in 2022-23.

The Savage dominated both the Wichita Wings in the semi-finals Friday, and the Iowa Raptors Saturday, to take home their first official title, perhaps motivated by their one previous appearance in MASL 2. That came in 2019-20, when Chihuahua went a perfect 12-0 in the regular season, but the playoffs were canceled because of the COVID pandemic.

This year, the Savage II posted a 10-2 mark -- the same as the Wings and Bombers who were also part of M2's championship weekend. Following is a rundown of each of the four games played yesterday and today.

The Savage broke to a 4-1 lead at the half and Iowa never mounted a serious threat in the final two quarters, capping off an impressive weekend. Renee Loya Hernandez was named the 2023 Chico Borja Playoff MVP completing an eight-point weekend with two goals and one assist.

The Savage did a great job not only on offense, but defensively as well, limiting the Raptors to just 15 shots on goal. Meanwhile, the Chihuahua offense sent 35 shots on Iowa's net.

 Fernando Peñalver Hinojos and Gilberto López each tacked on a pair for the Savage II.

THIRD PLACE GAME

WICHITA WINGS 13, AMARILLO BOMBERS 5

In a matchup of the two highest scoring teams in M2's regular season, the Wings broke open a one-goal game midway through the second with four unanswered goals to turn a 3-2 lead into an insurmountable 7-2 advantage five minutes into the third quarter, despite the fact that Amarillo outshout Wichita 29-28 in the contest. For different Wings had two goals each including Taylor Henry,  Guilherme Oliveira, David Luci and Bransyn Felty. Oliveria also had two assist for a four-point afternoon. 

SemiFInal: Game One

Chihuahua Savage II 14, WICHITA WINGS 5

 The Savage II scored the first four goals of the game, and the Wings could never pull closer than a three-goal deficit, as Chihuahua announced themselves as the team to beat. The Savage scored the game's final nine goals to easily pull away, outshooting Wichita 26-8. Renee Loya Hernandez laid the foundation for his MVP performance with four goals and one assist. David Gonzalez added a hat trick while Miguel Angel Diaz added a pair. 

SemiFinal: Game Two

Iowa Raptors 10, Amarillo Bombers 6

The Raptors opened a big lead, and despite the fact the Bombers scored the games final four goals, Iowa rolled to the finals with a strong defensive effort, anchored by goalkeeper Brett Petricek, a veteran of the MASL. who was a late-season signee with the Raptors. The Bombers actually outshot the Raptors, 32-24. After David Trevizo scored on a rebound less than a minute into the game, Iowa scored the next eight goals to cruise to the win and a spot in the Championship game. Jonah Dancer had four goals and one assist to lead Iowa, while Ronaldo Rojas added a pair of goals. Miguel Reyes had three goals and an assist while Trevizo had two goals.