With each passing week it is becoming more apparent that there is the Monterrey Flash and the Florida Tropics and a bunch of also-rans. Oh what might have been (and what can still be).

The narrative would be different now if the San Diego Sockers had won their overtime game in Monterrey. Or if the Milwaukee Wave had not squandered their comeback from 6-1 against the St. Louis Ambush, or had they not blown a 7-2 lead the next game against the Kansas City Comets.

The Harrisburg Heat could have had a 3-1 road trip if they could have scored in the first 9:59.4 of overtime in Kansas City. Or they could have limped away with a 1-3 trip had they not rallied from 5-2 down in Milwaukee on Sunday.

The results of the last few weeks have done little to change the narrative and as a result the Power Rankings have remained little changed week-to-week. A recurring admonishment on Facebook’s MASL Off the Wall group has been, “Power rankings aren’t standings!” but despite little movement on our end, this week’s Power Rankings line up perfectly with the current standings, which means we have had a pretty good feel of the league’s hierarchy the last several weeks.

This week’s games, however, have the potential to cause some disruption starting tonight when the Baltimore Blast visit the Sockers.

Tomorrow the Mesquite Outlaws will have a chance to end their five game losing streak by pulling off an upset against Utica City. Saturday the Heat visit the Blast.

Sunday, the always entertaining Comets and Ambush square off again, but the big game that day will feature the Wave hosting the Florida Tropics. Florida has won eight in a row since losing to the Wave on December 28.

1

Last Week: 1

16-1

Everything’s going the Flash’s way. Edgar Gonzalez returned to the lineup after missing 12 games and Diego Reynoso returned after missing eight games. 2

LW: 2

13-1

The road-weary Sockers were no match for the Tropics, but Florida’s win came with a price as they lost Matt Clare for the year with a torn ACL. 3

LW: 5

9-3

Aside from a three-minute hiccup in the third quarter, the Frank Capras had a wonderful life against Rochester. 4

LW: 3

11-4

The Sockers won’t get to enjoy their return home since they have to host the Baltimore Blast (on a Wednesday) and then go back on the road for three more games. 5

LW: 4

9-4

The Wave were getting into a nice groove and then Rafa Dias got hurt against Harrisburg and chaos ensued. Backup Matt Eisold couldn’t hold leads of 4-1 and 5-2 and the Wave lost 6-5. Milwaukee signed free agent veteran goalkeeper Joey Kapinos almost immediately after the game. 6

LW: 6

10-6

The Blast honed their game against Rochester and Orlando, the Eastern Conference’s tackling dummies. Four wins by a combined score of 44-9. 7

LW: 7

10-6

The Heat salvaged their road trip with a furious rally in Milwaukee, traditionally one of the hardest places to win. The Heat still have one road game left in nearby Baltimore, but the traveling part of Harrisburg’s 2-2 road trip started with a 6-1 run and ended with a 4-0 run, but saw the Heat outscored 29-18 in between. 8

LW: 8

8-8

Sonora was asked by the local government to move their game for an event at their arena, and the temporary relocation to Centro Deportivo Ana Gabriela Guevara seemed to come off without a hitch, including the win over Dallas. 9

LW: 9

8-8

A nice win over Harrisburg put a 12 or 13 win season in play for a franchise that has never finished better than 10-14. The Ambush have defied expectations and an 0-3 start. 10

LW: 10

7-7

The Comets beat the Heat with 0.6 seconds left in overtime, but lost four players in one night. Robert Kelly had his leg broken on Patrick Thompson’s shot follow through, and three other players left to join their outdoor teams. The short-handed Comets were easily blown out in Milwaukee two days later. 11

LW: 11

6-8

Tacoma routed the sinking Express and Micheal Ramos now has 14 points in his last three games and 23 in his last seven. 12

LW: 12

5-8

The Fury kept their playoff hopes alive by shutting out the anemic Outlaws 7-0. 13

LW: 13

4-10

Their three wins against Dallas excluded, the Outlaws are 1-10 averaging only 4.18 goals per game in their other 11 games. 14

LW: 14

4-10

Losers of nine of their last 10, the Express surprisingly had not allowed more than eight goals in a game this year until Friday’s 10-3 loss in Tacoma. 15

LW: 15

2-12

Dallas gave up 52 goals in their four losses in Mexico this year. 16

LW: 16

1-12

The recurring theme around the MASL has been the second half collapse and Orlando somehow shut out the Blast 2-0 in the first quarter, but got outscored 11-1 in the second half, turning a manageable 3-2 halftime deficit into a 14-3 bloodbath… 17

LW: 17

0-15

…and Rochester demonstrated it in Baltimore, trailing only 4-3 at halftime, only to lose 14-3.

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