The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Crunch crush Colorado in arena soccer return
The Crunch defeat the Colorado Inferno, 17-6, in their opening Major Arena Soccer League 2 match. Henry Palattella was on the scene and has a full recap and reaction from the team to a special night.
As the start of the Cleveland Crunch’s inaugural game crept closer March 20, Crunch owner Eric Davis was busy.
With the teams clearing the field to get ready for the opening kickoff, Davis snaked his way through the stands to try to get a good view for the start of the Crunch’s season. As Davis reached the end of the stands and headed towards the Crunch’s roped off ‘crow’s nest’ area, a fan approached him.
“Nice job brother,” the fan said as Davis passed.
“Thanks, man,” Davis said in response, disappearing behind a curtain.
Ten months ago, Davis and Luciano Ruscitto started their dream to bring back the Cleveland Crunch. That dream became a reality March 20, as the Crunch defeated the Colorado Inferno 17-6 in their opening Major Arena Soccer League 2 match.
“Being here is a tremendous feeling,” Davis said. “It shows the hard working it took to get here is paying off. I’m more excited for the players than anything. We’re able to give some really talented players from Cleveland a platform.”
That talent was on full display from the opening whistle, as the Crunch tallied four first quarter goals to take an early lead. Ryan Minick scored the Crunch’s first goal since the Bush administration on a volley three minutes in. The Crunch’s second goal was scored by captain David Jordan, a local product who played high school soccer at Mentor.
“There’s always been a fanbase for Cleveland soccer,” Jordan said. “The talent’s always been there too; it’s just been a matter of trying to figure out how to bring it all together. Luciano and Eric are doing their part to get it started and we’re hoping to help by winning.
The Crunch’s offense barrage was reminiscent of the team that ran the National Professional Soccer League 1990’s, as the Crunch seemingly scored at will whenever they pleased. Minick led the Crunch with four goals while Brush product Ma’Cain Spragling tallied a hat trick.
“We’ve only had a handful of practices, but we were still able to do what we wanted,” Crunch coach Louis Kastelic said. “We wanted to control the ball and let Colorado chase us and I think we did that.”
With a team comprised of mid-to-late 20-yearolds and 30-year-olds, almost all of the of the current hometown Crunch players developed their love of soccer by watching the first iteration of the Crunch.
“A lot of guys have dreamed about doing this since they were young watching the Crunch play in the 1990’s,” Kastelic said. “It’s the same thing for me. I loved them as a kid; I wanted to be (former Crunch star) Hector Marinaro growing up. Getting to coach these guys to their first win in 20 years is awesome.”