Harrisburg Heat, Iowa Demon Hawks in battle of undefeateds to decide league title

OMAHA, Nebraska -- The two have been, seemingly, on an unavoidable collision course all season long, and so it will be, as the Harrisburg Heat will matchup against the Iowa Demon Hawks for the Major Arena Soccer League 2 championship.

Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. CDT at Baxter Arena in Omaha. The game will be broadcast live on YouTube. Check league and team social sites for updated broadcast link information. 

Harrisburg, as the number one seed, and Iowa as the number two seed, both completed 12-0 regular seasons, and had first-round byes.

On Saturday, the Heat, -- behind MASL veterans like Vini Dantas and Brruno Henrique who both scored, and Oscar Barrientos who has been a standout for Harrisburg this season, broke a 3-3 halftime tie to surge to a 9-5 win to secure their spot in the title game in their first year of MASL 2 play. 

 It took the Iowa Demon Hawks more than two quarters to get rolling but once they did, they were unstoppable in the second half to take a 8-5 win over the OKC Certified Lions to reach their third straight Major Arena Soccer League 2 title games.

The Lions held a 2-0 lead at intermission, but the Demon Hawks had a first-round bye while OKC played Friday night in Des Moines in an opening round win over United Elite Krajisnik. That may have played a factor as the fresher Demon Hawks scored six unanswered goals, including two just 23 second apart to erase a 3-1 lead with just under five minutes to play in the third. 

Two years ago, Iowa defeated the Rochester Lancers for their only MASL 2 championship. Last year, they lost in double overtime to the Chihuahua Savage 2. 

In Saturday's win, Eddie Martinez and Jeanderson Pereira each had two goals and one assist. Pedro Henrique Sanchez got the game winner with 37 seconds to go in the third. Jose Medina had a pair of goals for the Certified Lions.