The Wichita B-52s start their home season schedule facing Tulsa on November 8th @ Hartman Arena. The Wichita B-52s will compete against highly competitive teams this year in the Major Arena Soccer League (MASL); including the 2013-14 MISL champions the Missouri Comets, 2013-14 PASL champions the Chicago Mustangs, MISL teams St. Louis Ambush and Milwaukee Wave along with rival team Tulsa Revolution.  Season tickets are still available for the upcoming season and may be purchased through the B-52 front office or Hartman Arena.

In order to prepare for the season, the Wichita B-52s will also take on the Mexico Indoor National team on October 26th.  Before the Wichita B-52s take the field, they must work on adapting to this year’s new change of coach and chemistry.  "We are very excited about the future of this organization.  With a long off season, you can tell the guys are dying to get on the pitch. The level of energy at practice expresses that every guy out there is fighting for his position on the team." - Joey Pindell, President.

In addition to the new team, the Wichita B-52s must adapt to the new adjustment on the rules of the game.  After an off-season full of meetings, discussions, and evaluations, the Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) has announced today the rules for the 2014/15 regular season.  "The game changes and I trust the guys will adapt to the game. These guys are professionals and our focus is bringing a championship to Wichita." - Jeff Kraft, Head Coach.

MASL is the top level of arena/indoor soccer in North America and features 23 teams across the United States and Mexico.  The top teams from the former MISL united with teams from the PASL to form the MASL in April.  The MASL commissioner, Kevin Milliken, looks to bring these teams together to move forward as one league. "We have a lot of different backgrounds and philosophies. The most important thing is to kick off and play as one league then assess the impact of all rules at next year’s owners meeting,” Commissioner Milliken explained.   The rules have been adapted and agreed to by the teams in the league and the result is several new rules and modifications to the previous PASL and MISL rules. These are some of the most notable:

Multi-point scoring for Eastern Division teams – All games played at the Baltimore Blast, Harrisburg Heat, Rochester Lancers and the Syracuse Silver Knights will be played with multi-point scoring.  The Detroit Waza Flo will continue to use single-point scoring along with the rest of the league in their home matches.

Goals scored from on or outside the three point arc will be worth three points and goals scored from within the arc will be worth two.  This is the same system the MISL played with the last few years.  In arenas where multi-point scoring is used, the three point arc will have a forty-five feet radius from the center of the goal line.

Game roster - Home and visiting teams will each dress a maximum of fourteen and minimum of twelve players.  In post season playoff games, each team will dress a maximum of fifteen players but the extra player must be a backup goalkeeper.

Three Line Pass - If any player, including the goalkeeper, plays the ball over three lines (two yellow lines and halfway line) in the air towards his opponent’s goal line, without it touching another player, the perimeter wall or a referee on the field of play between the yellow lines, the referee shall award a free kick to the opposing team at the shootout mark of the first yellow line that the ball crossed. This includes the goalkeeper throwing the ball over three lines with his hands.

Timeouts - Each team shall be allowed a maximum of two sixty (60) second timeouts per half but no more than three timeouts in a game.

Slide Tackles – Slide tackles will be allowed but the sliding player cannot initiate contact with the opposing player and/or slide towards a player in a reckless manner.

Penalty Shootouts – All penal two-minute power play penalties will result in a shootout and if the shootout is converted, there will be no power play.  If both teams receive an equal number of two-minute penalties, there will be no shootout.

Four Foul Penalty - Any player who accumulates four fouls in one half will be assessed a two (2) minute Power Play Time Penalty.  A Four Foul violation will not result in a shootout as it’s a non-penal infraction.

There are other new and modified rules and they can be viewed at www.maslsoccer.com

About Major Arena Soccer League and Premier Arena Soccer League :

The Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) is the top level of arena soccer in North America. The MASL was formed as the top teams from the former MISL united with teams from the PASL.  This partnership occurred on May 19, 2014 and the MASL begins its first year with 23 teams in the United States and Mexico.  The Chicago Mustangs and Missouri Comets return as champions of the PASL and MISL respectively.  The Premier Arena Soccer League will continue as the nation’s top amateur league and will begin the winter portion of its 17th season.  The Premier Arena Soccer League is the official developmental league of the MASL.  Both the MASL and Premier Arena Soccer League are members of the Confederacion Panamerica de Minifutbol (CPM).   Professional indoor soccer began play in the United States in 1978.

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Wichita B-52s

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