The Championship Final: This Is it

By Jason S Rufner

NASL fans, welcome to Championship Week.

We're in the middle of a weeklong celebration of the NASL, ramping up to that great day when the league that made big-time professional American soccer a reality crowns its latest champion.   It's the latest chapter in the NASL's continuing history, leading up to Soccer Saturday in San Antonio.

This Saturday, the second-seed San Antonio Scorpions and the fourth-seed Fort Lauderdale Strikers will battle it out in The Championship Final.   One of them will claim the magnificent Soccer Bowl trophy, the third oldest prize for an outdoor men's professional soccer league in the United States.

History will be made.   Neither the Strikers nor the Scorpions, nor their cities, has won the Soccer Bowl ever before.   One of these clubs -- the one from South Texas, or the one from South Florida -- will do something they'd never done, but always wanted to.

One match for one championship, to be won by one club.   For whose fans will this be a November to remember?

Weather prognostications at publication time were calling for mostly clear skies with temps in the 50s -- somewhat warmer with all the heat from Toyota Field.   Scorpions’ fans, Strikers’ fans, NASL fans...let's go!.

The Championship Final

-- Clubs:   San Antonio Scorpions vs. Fort Lauderdale Strikers

-- Date, Time & Place:   Saturday, November 15; 7:30 pm CT (8:30 pm ET); Toyota Field, San Antonio, Tex.

-- TV:   ESPN3; ONEWorld Sports; NASLLive.com; KSAT12.2-MeTV (in San Antonio)

-- Radio:   SoFloRadio.com

Semifinal Results

 -- No. 2 San Antonio defeated No. 3 New York Cosmos, 2-1

-- No. 4 Fort Lauderdale defeated No. 1 Minnesota United FC in PKs, 1-1 (5-4)

Head-to-Head

-- San Antonio 1 win (2-0 at home), Fort Lauderdale 1 win (2-0 at home), 1 draw (2-2 at San Antonio), 0 differential

Home/Away Records

-- Home record:   San Antonio 9 wins, 3 draws, 3 losses

-- Road record:   Fort Lauderdale 4 wins, 4 draws, 7 losses

Last Seven

-- San Antonio 5 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss (+10 differential)

-- Fort Lauderdale 4 wins, 3 draws, 0 losses (+4 differential)

Head Coaches

-- Alen Marcina (with San Antonio since August 2013)

-- Günter Kronsteiner (with Fort Lauderdale since July 2013)

Leading Scorers

-- San Antonio: Rafael Castillo (8 goals); Billy Forbes (7 assists)

-- Fort Lauderdale: Fafà Picault (12 goals); Shawn Chin (5 assists)

Leading Goalkeepers

-- San Antonio: Josh Saunders -  Record (W-D-L): 8-2-5, 7 Shutouts, 54 Saves, 0.93 G.A.A.

-- Fort Lauderdale: Kamil ÄŒontofalský -  Record (W-D-L): 6-6-4, 5 Shutouts, 41 Saves, 1.13 G.A.A.

Breakdown

The Strikers are dangerous. The Scorpions better be on their toes.

Pay no attention to seeding.   Pay attention to Fort Lauderdale's current streak of eight straight matches without a loss.   Pay attention to Picault's knack for big goals and Kamil ÄŒontofalský's penchant for huge saves.   Pay attention to how the Strikers went up to Minnesota and beat the team with the best overall record in 2014 with just that combination of late-game heroes.

I bet that got San Antonio's attention.

The Scorpions should be favored.   They are the Fall Champions, the highest seed remaining, extraordinarily difficult to defeat at home, and are pretty darn hot themselves.   They can win big, like their 7-0 pasting of Tampa Bay in October, or they can win small, like the three consecutive one-goal victory-streak they're presently enjoying.   With high-scoring midfielder Rafael Castillo and original Scorpion Greg Janicki, only Minnesota scored more goals than San Antonio, and no club allowed fewer.

San Antonio and Fort Lauderdale met three times during the regular season, and were about as even as they possibly could be.   It's pretty much a draw in the net, too:   Both ÄŒontofalský and Scorpions goalkeeper Josh Saunders carry a wealth of postseason experience into the Soccer Bowl.

It just might -- like it did in both semifinal matchups -- come down to what bounce the ball takes, on some desperate rush late in the game.

The Scorpions and the Strikers won their respective semifinals in comeback fashion.   Ninety minutes of play wasn't nearly enough to decide either semifinal match in The Championship.   The semis were high-skilled and hard-fought.   Why would anyone expect the final to be different?

We got the Streakin' Strikers versus the Scorin' Scorpions.   One of those will win the Soccer Bowl for the first time in history.   Let's watch history get made.