Harrisburg Heat, in a thriller, rally to win Major Arena Soccer League 2 championship

OMAHA, Nebraska -- The Harrisburg Heat, who first took to the field in the 1991-92 National Professional Soccer League Season, have earned their first-ever indoor soccer championship.

And earned is the right word. The Heat fell behind early, and never led until taking a 7-6 lead with 3:25 to go in the game on a goal by Danny Osuji. Iowa was far from through, however, and the Heat hung for a 9-8 win, denying the Demon Hawks their second title in three years. 

Both teams were perfect in the regular season, and Harrisburg defeated host Omaha in a good contest Saturday night, winning 9-5. The Demon Hawks, who defeated the OKC Certified Lions 8-5, were looking for a MASL "double" this spring as their women's team went undefeated in winning the MASL W crown late last month. The men won the MASL 2 title in 2023-24, and lost in double-overtime in last year's championship matchup.

Iowa looked like they might pull away early, scoring the game's first three goals, but Harrisburg rallied with three of their own. It was the first of three tied scores in the game, the last one at 7-7 when Guillherme Lopes scored for Iowa with 2:03 to play. Bruno Henrique got what proved to be the game winner from distance, with 1:26 to go, as the Demon Hawks were playing with a sixth attacker.

Vini Dantas, a MASL veteran of 375 career regular season and playoff games, was named playoff MVP. He had two goals and one assist in Sunday's win, after scoring two against Omaha on Saturday.

The Heat are a mix of former MASL standouts like Dantas, Henrique, Victor Parreiras (who scored Sunday), Thiago Freitas who was the regular season MVP and Player/Coach Hugo Silva, and several other homegrown stars.

That list includes Roshawn Panton, who led the way Sunday with three goals and one assist. He's in his fifth year  year with the Heat, with 18 goals in 23 games in MASL action in 2023-24. In 60 career MASL games, he has 30 goals and 14 assists.

Harrisburg held an 18-15 edge in shots on goal as Silva outdueled his friend and former teammate Rainer Hauss in the Iowa net.

The league's 10th anniversariy season will start late this fall. For more information, visit www.masl2.com