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Mustangs Win Newman Cup, Put Exclamation Point on Perfect Season
3/19/14 - The Chicago Mustangs capped what might have been the most dominant season in PASL history with a 14-5 rout of Hidalgo La Fiera before 3,969 at the Sears Centre Arena on Sunday.
The Mustangs went 16-0 in the regular season, scoring a record 202 goals. In the playoffs they added another 24 goals, including the championship game and their 10-3 win over the Cleveland Freeze Saturday.
But Sunday's win was significant. Skeptics attributed Chicago's success to what many called a weaker Eastern Division schedule. San Diego, Las Vegas, Dallas, Monterrey and Hidalgo were considered the league's elite teams with La Fiera on the top of the heap.
Not only did Chicago beat the 14-2 La Fiera, who had already eliminated Monterrey and Las Vegas in the playoffs, they won by several lengths. The Mustangs took a 2-0 lead 2:24 into the game and led 3-0 at the end of the first quarter. Hidalgo made their only run of the night, on goals by Erick Flores and Robson de Souza. With the score 3-2 the game had the makings of a classic battle.
Chicago wasn't interested in keeping it close, however. Wilo Martinez and Adrian Ortiz scored before the half to re-open a three goal lead.
In the third quarter the flood gates opened. Luis "Pee Wee" Ortega caught Hidalgo goalkeeper Juan Gamboa off his line and sent a 170 foot bomb into the net on the fly to make it 6-2 and then Chicago scored three goals in less than three minutes to widen the margin to 9-2. The host Mustangs continued to entertain their largest ever crowd with fast breaks and highlight reel goals. Miguel Vaca led the way with three goals and four assists.
In the fourth quarter the Mustangs scored three goals in 58 seconds to make it 14-4 and the team and crowd were in full celebration mode. Chicago had quieted the critics and put 14 goals on the scoreboard against the league's best defense and Gamboa, the league's First Team goalkeeper.
With such a balanced offensive playoff attack, the league's Aaron Susi Trophy (playoff MVP) went to Mustangs goalkeeper and team captain Jesus Flores, who anchored the defense and played every minute of every game this season.
Chicago played only two one-goal games this season and did not play any overtime games, and never needed to go to the sixth attacker. They won 14 of their 18 regular season and playoff games by five or more goals.
In the third place game, the Las Vegas Legends rallied from a 5-1 halftime deficit to beat the Cleveland Freeze 7-6. Las Vegas didn't suit up Enrique Tovar, Ivan Campos, Eric Guzman, or Zeke Sanchez for the third place game, but got two goals apiece from Israel Sesay and Franck Tayou.
Mustangs Premier Win PASL-Premier Winter Nationals
The Mustangs developmental squad also took home a national championship. Mustangs Premier beat Vitesse Dallas 7-4 to win the Premier Arena Soccer League Winter National title.
Mustangs Premier, like their parent club, also went undefeated with an 8-0 regular season. They didn't come out of the tournament unscathed, however, suffering a 5-1 lose to Vitesse in group play.
Heavy Metal
The Mustangs, who just missed the playoffs last year despite an 11-5 record in their inaugural season, need to quickly build a trophy case. Amongst their hardware for 2013-14
- Eastern Division Champions
- Newman Cup Champions
- US Open Champions
- Coach of the Year - Armando Gamboa
- MVP - Wilo Martinez
- Aaron Susi Trophy - Jesus Flores
- All-League First Team - Wilo Martinez
- All-League Second Team - Miguel Vaca, Jesus Flores
- PASL-Premier Winter National Champions
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