Cleveland Crunch
The Cleveland Crunch are an American professional indoor soccer club based in Cleveland, Ohio. The Crunch compete in the Major Arena Soccer League 2 and began play in March 2021. Formed in 1989 as an expansion team in the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL), the Crunch played a total of 16 seasons in three separate leagues under two different names. The team played three seasons in the original MISL, later known as the Major Soccer League (MSL), before joining the rival National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) in 1992. After nine seasons in the NPSL, the team joined a  second incarnation of the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) in 2001. In 2002, the team was rebranded the Cleveland Force in honor of the former team of the same name. After four seasons in the second MISL, the team folded in 2005. The Crunch returned to indoor play in the M2 for the 2021 season. On July 18, 2021 the Crunch defeated the Wichita Wings by a final score of 11-6 to win the league championship. History. The original Cleveland Force team had folded on July 22, 1988. Akron businessmen George S. Hoffman and Stuart Lichter formed an ownership  group; named Al Miller general manager; and named former Force star Kai Haaskivi player-coach. Miller and Haaskivi brought back many players who had been fan favorites during the Force's height of popularity in the mid-1980s. The Crunch's home arena was originally the Richfield Coliseum. Near the end of the Crunch's first season, Miller engineered a trade that would help Cleveland make the championship finals in seven of the next 10 years. He sent veteran forward Paul Wright to the San Diego Sockers for Zoran Karic, a feisty forward who immediately hit it off with Cleveland star  Hector Marinaro. Within weeks, they were dubbed the "Dynamic Duo" and together rewrote the scoring record books for the next decade. When the original MISL ceased operation in the summer of 1992, the Crunch, Baltimore and Wichita joined the rival NPSL as "expansion teams". All were permitted to keep only six players, then fill the rest of their rosters in an expansion draft of players made available by other NPSL teams. The NPSL, in an effort to promote the sport in the United States, had a cap of two non-Americans allowed on a roster. Canadian-born Marinaro and Serbia  native Karic filled that quota immediately. Besides Marinaro and Karic, holdovers from the MISL Crunch were midfielders Tommy Tanner and Andy Schmetzer, defender George Fernandez and young goalkeeper Otto Orf. Orf had only a 14–32 record the previous three years with the club as backup to P.J. Johns. Before switching leagues, Miller had signed four-time NPSL goalkeeper of the year Jamie Swanner from the Canton Invaders. That contract was voided when the Crunch entered the NPSL. Swanner and several ex-Invaders signed as free agents with another expansion team, the Buffalo Blizzard. New Crunch coach Gary Hindley wanted Orf  as his starter, citing the big keeper's strong throwing arm as an offensive weapon. He wanted Orf getting the ball to Marinaro and Karic with outlet passes at the team's new home, the CSU Convocation Center, where the playing surface was considerably smaller than at the Richfield Coliseum. Orf became a 25-game winner, Marinaro and Karic shattered all scoring records, and Cleveland advanced to the league finals, where it lost to the Kansas City Attack, three games to two. A year later, the Crunch finally broke through to win Cleveland's first championship in any pro sport  in 30 years. Marinaro scored the dramatic game-winner in double overtime as Cleveland overcame a 15–10 deficit to defeat the visiting St. Louis Ambush, 17–15, to take the series, three games to one. Lichter faded from view when the MISL folded and Hoffman became even more active as owner during the Crunch's almost yearly run to the finals. Hoffman eventually sold his interest to a Cleveland group headed by Richard Dietrich. Soon after, the NPSL reorganized itself as the new Major Indoor Soccer League in 2001. The team took on the old Cleveland Force name in 2002. Team  honors. League championships Division titles (Regular Season) Division/Conference titles (Playoffs) Individual honors. Most Valuable Player Award Scoring Champions All-Star Game MVP Rookie of the Year Award All-Rookie Team Playoffs. 1990–91 MSL Eastern Division Finals: Defeated Kansas City Comets, 4–3 MSL Championship Series: Lost to San Diego Sockers, 4–2 1991–92 MSL Semifinals: Lost to Dallas Sidekicks, 4–2 1992–93 NPSL American Division Semifinals: Defeated Buffalo Blizzard, 2–1 NPSL American Division Finals: Defeated Harrisburg Heat, 2–1 NPSL Championship Series: Lost to Kansas City Attack, 3–2 1993–94 NPSL American Division Semifinals: Defeated Buffalo Blizzard, 2–1 NPSL American Division Finals: Defeated Harrisburg  Heat, 2–1 NPSL Championship Series: Defeated St. Louis Ambush, 3–1 1994–95 NPSL American Division Semifinals: Defeated Buffalo Blizzard, 2–1 NPSL American Division Finals: Lost to Harrisburg Heat, 3–0 1995–96 NPSL American Division Semifinals: Defeated Buffalo Blizzard, 2–1 NPSL American Division Finals: Defeated Baltimore Spirit, 3–1 NPSL Championship Series: Defeated Kansas City Attack, 4–2 1996–97 NPSL American Conference Semifinals: Defeated Baltimore Spirit, 2–1 NPSL American Conference Finals: Defeated Harrisburg Heat, 3–1 NPSL Championship Series: Lost to Kansas City Attack, 4–0 1997–98 NPSL American Conference Semifinals: Lost to Philadelphia Kixx, 2–0 1998–99 NPSL American Conference Semifinals: Defeated Montreal Impact, 2–1 NPSL American  Conference Finals: Defeated Philadelphia Kixx, 2–0 NPSL Championship Series: Defeated St. Louis Ambush, 3–2 1999–2000 NPSL American Conference Semifinals: Defeated Montreal Impact, 2–0 NPSL American Conference Finals: Defeated Baltimore Blast, 2–0 NPSL Championship Series: Lost to Milwaukee Wave, 3–2 2002–03 MISL Eastern Conference Semifinals: Lost to Baltimore Blast 1–0 2003–04 MISL Eastern Conference Quarterfinals: Lost to Dallas Sidekicks 1–0 2004–05 MISL Semifinals: Defeated Philadelphia Kixx 2–0 MISL Finals: Lost to Milwaukee Wave 2–0 2021 MASL2 Semifinals: Defeated FC Amarillo Bombers 12–6 MASL2 Finals: Defeated Wichita Wings 11–6