One of the great fallacies of multi-point scoring posed by its supporters was that it kept teams in games. We can bury that myth (with MPS itself) forever after the series of all-natural comebacks we have seen in the last two weeks.

First on January 12 the Milwaukee Wave stormed back from 6-1 down to take a 7-6 lead only to blow that lead with 19 seconds left and lose 8-7 to the St. Louis Ambush in overtime.

Proving it was no fluke, the Monterrey Flash came back from 5-1 down to win 7-5 in Ontario on January 16.

On January 17, the Wave were on the opposite end of a collapse, blowing a 7-2 lead in a 9-8 loss to the Kansas City Comets. At the same time, the Ambush were rallying from a 5-1 deficit to beat Utica City 7-6 in shootouts. That same night, the Monterrey Flash remained undefeated by coming back from 4-1 down to defeat the Turlock Cal Express 5-4.

Through nine weeks 15 of the MASL’s 17 teams are still within 2 1/2 games of the playoffs. That’s not necessarily a good thing when you have six Western Conference teams playing .400 ball or worse, who are assured two playoff spots. Even the 1-8 Dallas Sidekicks are only 1 1/2 games out of the playoffs.

The San Diego Sockers will take their fragile goal differential on the road, where they will play nine of their next 10 games.

Things are also going to get real for the Harrisburg Heat who host the Sockers and the Baltimore Blast this weekend after dining out on the Rochester Lancers in six of their first 10 games. The Heat are 13-3 at home since the beginning of last year.

This weekend’s marquee game is Saturday’s Sockers visit to Baltimore, the first time the storied teams have met since December 4, 2015 (an 8-5 Blast win).

1

Last Week: 1

13-0

Monterrey teased the loss column but rallied on the road – twice – from a 5-1 deficit in Ontario and a 4-1 deficit in Turlock to improve to 13-0 2

LW: 2

8-1

The Sockers refuse to make it look easy. While they were able to jump out to a 4-0 lead, San Diego had to get an empty net goal with nine seconds left to seal a 5-3 win over Mesquite. 3

LW: 3

9-1

Though he still hasn’t gotten visa clearance, Florida continued to bulk up by trading for Thiago Freitas. Also joining the team and seeing action was Joshio Sandoval as teams continue to scavenge the SeaWolves for parts. Speaking of those SeaWolves, the Tropics skull-dragged them 16-3. 4

LW: 4

7-3

The Wave have been entirely mortal lately, losing back-to-back games before barely beating the Comets in overtime. 5

LW: 5

7-3

In the week of collapses, Utica City Flying Circus (RIP Terry Jones) gave away a 5-1 lead in St. Louis and lost in shootouts, but rebounded for a weekend split. 6

LW: 6

5-5

Like the Ambush, but from opposite ends of the spectrum, the Blast find themselves in the rare position of being .500 after dusting off the Sonora Soles Monday. 7

LW: 7

7-3

Two more home wins make the Heat 17-9 in their last 26 games. They completed a six game sweep of Rochester, so fans don’t get to (have to?) see them again this year. Most notably, the weekend saw the return of Tavoy Morgan to the Heat lineup. 8

LW: 9

5-6

Will the real Ambush please stand up? They have won five of their last eight, but they have also been blown out five times this year leaving them with the 4th worst goal differential in the MASL. The team added Anthony Grant, but also released Qudus Lawal, who was the first player signed in the roster overhaul. Full credit, we had the Ambush going 0-5 over this recent stretch, but they went 2-3 with signature wins over Milwaukee and Utica. 9

LW: 10

5-6

The Comets pulled off a massive 7-2 rally to gain a weekend split with Milwaukee, which they will happily take. They were in position to go 2-0, but they easily could have ended up 0-2. 10

LW: 8

4-7

Sonora’s record took a big hit, but their playoff chances are still about the same in the struggling Western Conference. 11

LW: 11

4-6

Mesquite finally beat someone besides Dallas, and it was only Turlock, but they are still in the thick of the playoff fight. 12

LW: 12

4-7

Tacoma gave life to the slumping Fury. 13

LW: 14

3-7

The Fury ended a five game losing streak, but not before blowing a 3-0 lead. Still rallying from 4-3 down on the road was a gut check win when they absolutely needed it. 14

LW: 13

3-7

It has now been 40 days since Turlock won a game as their losing streak ran to six in a row. 15

LW: 15

2-8

idle 16

LW: 16

1-8

Things are getting downright ugly for the SeaWolves, who have given up double-digit goals in three straight games. 17

LW: 17

0-9

The Lancers have resolved to not lose to Harrisburg again this year. I like their chances.

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