By Delorean Fleetwood
Fredericksburg, VA, Des Moines, IA: and Omaha, NE: Today, in our 2025-26 arena soccer season review, we will review the MASL 2 and MASL 3 (known as M2 and M3), the second and third levels in the MASL arena soccer pyramid.
The M3 was announced back on July, 20th, 2020, while the M2 was announced in September of 2017. Both leagues serve as the development leagues in the pyramid for the Major Arena Soccer League, helping bring the game to smaller and medium sized markets, similar to how the Arena Football League did with the AF2.
The M3’s ultimate goal is similar to what USL League Two is doing with the USL Chain of Leagues, spread the game as the grass roots level, while developing local talent that can eventually fed higher up in the system. “Today’s Game, Tomorrow’s Stars” would be the perfect way to describe that. The M3 released a map (you also find that in our part 1 coverage here) back in 2020 sheet the goal to make the M3 a Nationwide league made up into many different regions. Back on September 3rd, 2024, the MASL announced their unification with the Premier Arena Soccer League (PASL) to bolster their numbers (mostly into the M3 ranks). This MASL-PASL merger was a huge moment that allowed M3 to grow past being a 6-8 team league in the Mid Atlantic. Manifest Destiny.
The M3 was back for its 6th season in 2025-26. The former M1 squad, the Rio Grande Valley Barracudas defeated the Roc City Boom of Rochester, New York, 8-6. In the second season of the new and improved M3, 20 teams across four divisions, would play 10 regular season games. The top two teams in each division would make the postseason, with the exception of thr tournament hosts, the Baltimore Kings. The other team with the best finish in the Atlantic division, would advance. Let’s meet the team’s competing this season.
MEET THE M3
With our 2025-26 M3 team alignment and playoff format set, we begin season review for the 6th M3 arena soccer season.
2025-26 M3 SEASON REVIEW
Our sixth M3 regular season began November 15th, 2025 and lasted until March 22nd, 2026.
ATLANTIC DIVISION RECAP:
With the Baltimore Kings hosting the 2026 M3 tournament, the best team remaining, would grab the other playoff berth. Baltimore only managed a 5-5 record, placing 4th. The Marauders might have has better luck playing Risk, going 0-9 with a -59 goal differential (Stratego,anyone?). Cumberland wasn’t any better, going 1-8, but only beat the Marauders. The Storm went 7-2-1, having an amazing season, but sadly missed out, even if the Kings weren’t qualified by default. The battle for the Atlantic came down between the two time M3 Champions, Northern Virginia (NoVaFC) and the up and coming darkhorse of the M3, Delaware City. Delaware ultimately split the two games with NoVa, but a weekend sweep of the Kings on the last weekend of the regular season, gave Delaware a better goal differential, allowing them to clinch the Atlantic and the other playoff berth, leaving NoVa on the outside looking in.
EAST DIVISION RECAP:
The Youngstown Nighthawks had equally disastrous seasons from both men and women’s squads. The men at least won a game, defeating the Gunners 15-13 on March 7th. The Cleveland Samba had a great season, despite getting swept to Roc City (including 23-3 in their season opener, though the rematch was mere 7-6 defeat). Losing to the Gunners might be the more damaging loss. As for the Gunners? The win against the Samba was the lone highlight of the season, going 2-8. As for Roc City? Only two games in the entire regular season, saw the Boom score less than 17 goals. You read that correctly. Seven of those eight games saw no less than 20. With arguably the most dominant regular season in M3 history, the Roc City Boom advanced to the M3 Tournament along with the Cleveland Samba.
GREAT LAKES NORTH RECAP:
With the previous aforementioned expulsion of Indiana United, the Great Lakes North would be a battle between three teams, after Kalamazoo couldn’t finish the season. One of my favorite squads, the Detroit Waza Flo, didn’t fair well, being the only team in the three team Great Lakes North, to miss the postseason, going 2-7. Cincinnati had two games that couldn’t be made up, but didn’t affect their playoff contention, going 7-1. Muskegon had a phenomenal season, going 9-0-1 with a lone defeat to Cincinnati in OT, 6-5, at the Game Time Training Center. With the Risers and Cincinnati Swerve set to make some noise, they advanced to the 2026 M3 Tournament.
SOUTH DIVISION RECAP:
TBD might as well be “To Be Determined” if you asked a magic 8-ball when their first victory would be. A first win seemed like a “Bold Dream” indeed for TBD FC, going 0-10. The Wichita Selection would go 3-7, in arguably the toughest division in M3, while the Springfield Demize was able to scrape by with a subpar 4-5-1 record, before the demise of their playoff hopes. Shaolin had a great season, just missing the postseason at 7-3, a game back of the two teams who did. The defending champions, the RGV Barracudas (a former M1 team) and the new kids on the block, the OKC Certified Lions, both made the field of 8 out of the toughest division in M3. RGV and OKC made their way to the M3 Tournament in Fredericksburg, VA.
Let’s take a look at our M3 scoring leaders during the regular season.
LEAGUE LEADERS
With our season recap out of the way, we head to the M3 Tournament in Fredericksburg, VA.
2026 M3 PLAYOFFS
The 2026 M3 Tournament was held at the Fredericksburg Fieldhouse, in Virginia, from March 27th to 29th, 2026. Eight teams competed for the 6th annual MASL3 Championship.
Our first game featured Delaware City vs the Cincinnati Swerve. Cincinnati scored just 28 seconds in on a Eddie Zavala strike from Andrew Nephew. Tachito Olivas would make himself known to the M3 world on this day, as he scored twice (11:49 and 4:16 left), off feeds from Marlon Trejo, making it 2-1 Delaware after the first. Olivas would make it a hat trick, assisted by Sebastian RenterIA, making it 3-1 at halftime. Olivas would score twice more to start the period (12:50 and 7:46 left), assisted by Agi Pacheco and Carlos Lievano, while Trejo scored on a feed from Sergio Franco, making it 6-1 with 4:53 left in the third. Kwame Sakodie scored unassisted with just 8 seconds left, to make it 6-2 heading into the fourth. Andrej Novakovic scored on an assist from Ewald Bugase with 13:48 to go, cutting the Delaware lead to 6-3. Franco (unassisted), Alvin Halley (assisted by Franco) and Olivas (unassisted), would ice the game with goals (12:48, 4:32, and 3:16 to go), sending Delaware City to the 2026 M3 Semifinals, with a 9-3 victory against the Cincinnati Swerve.
Our second quarterfinal game features the best team in the regular season and last season’s Finalist, the Roc City Boom taking on the defending champions, in a rematch of last year’s M3 Championship. RGV struck twice in the first behind goals from Axel Chavez (assisted by Martin Loya) and Loya (assisted by Jose Echavarria), with 12:50 and 4:26 to go, giving RGV a 2-0 lead heading into the second. Loya scored his second with 11:45 left, making it 3-0. The Boom struck back with Juan Pablo Reyes on a feed from Alex Harring, just 51 seconds later, cutting the lead to 3-1. With 9:10 left, Loya secured a hat trick on a feed from Luis Salas. Reyes scored his second with 5:28 left, on a feed from Matt Schuber, to cut the lead back to two. Jose Martinez would make it 5-2 Barracudas, with just 17 seconds left, on a feed from Marco Don Juan. The Boom needed a comeback and fast. With 12:19 and 9:49 left in the third, they got just that with goals from Schuber and Jameson Railey, cutting the lead to 5-4, heading intl the final quarter. Andriy Demydiv would score at the beginning at the 4th quarter to tie it up at 5-5, while Roc City scored twice more on goals from Reyes, securing him a hat trick, and Juan Lucena, giving the Boom a 7-5 lead with five unanswered goals. Would RGV respond? Oscar Garcia would, with 3:41 left, making it 7-6. Then, Loya would become an M3 legend, as he scored just 35 seconds later to tie it up, then scored the game winner with 56 seconds left in the game, guiding the RGV Barracudas to a thrilling 8-7 cone from behind victory over the best team in the regular season, the Roc City Boom, advancing to the 2026 M3 Semifinals.
Our third quarterfinal features the OKC Certified Lions vs. The Cleveland Samba. At this point, no stats from masl3.com show any stats except for the final score, a 10-9 OT victory for OKC. With that in tow, the Certified Lions advance to the 2026 M3 Semifinals. The same can be said about our last quarterfinal game, the Muskegon Risers vs. The Baltimore Kings, a resounding 13-4 victory for the Great Lakes North Division champions in 2025-26 against the tournament hosts. With the Kings dethroned, Muskegon, along with Delaware, RGV, and OKC, advanced to the 2026 M3 Semifinals.
Our quarterfinal star is RGV’s Martin Loya (5G-1A-6PTS). With the quarterfinals wrapped up, we move on ahead to the 2026 M3 Semifinals.
2026 M3 SEMIFINALS
If you thought RVG vs the Roc City Boom was the game of year, we have a pyramid in Memphis, Tennessee to sell you….(apologies before hand, but no stats were kept once again on masl3.com for this one). Delaware and RGV went back and forth in a game of “can you top this?”, ultimately seeing the new kids on the block continuing to dance on, winning 10-9 in OT, ensuring the M3 would see not only a new champion, but a first time champion in MASL3, as well. Sadly this would be the case for BOTH Semifinals. Take your pick, as both Semifinals were the two best games of the entire season. Our pick for game of the year was this one. The second Semifinal saw the Muskegon Risers take on the OKC Certified Lions. Trailing 9-2 heading into the fourth quarter, the Risers did just that, rise to the occasion as they performed arguably one of the greatest comebacks this sport has ever seen, defeating the OKC Certified Lions 11-10 to advance to the 2026 M3 Championship Game.
With the Semifinals out of the way, we move ahead to the 2026 MASL3 Championship Game.
2026 M3 FINAL
Our apologies once more, as no player stats were recorded via masl3.com, so we will have to just make do. One thing is for sure, we would have been happy to keep stats, if the Major Arena Soccer League 3 needed someone for that during the tournament. That being said, the darkhorses in this match Delaware City was looking to bring the First State, their first arena soccer championship. Muskegon, was looking to give Western Michigan another championship, just as WMU Broncos hockey did with their first Frozen Four win during the 2024-25 NCAA DI Men’s Ice Hockey season. Alas, the team just 90 miles north of Kalamazoo were unable to rise to the challenge of the darkhorse from Wilmington, as Delaware City FC would go on to win their first M3 Arena Soccer Championship, defeating the Risers 10-6 at the Fredericksburg Fieldhouse in Fredericksburg, VA on March 29th, 2026.
FIRST STATE, FIRST TITLE.
The State of Delaware is known as “The First State”, as they became the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution on December 7th, 1787. All 30 delegates in Dover voted to ratify it, a unanimous 30-0 vote. Delaware’s size is roughly one and a half times the size of Rhode Island, good for second smallest of the fifty nifty United States (did anyone have to sing that song in school growing up?). You can drive through it in under an hour, if you go laterally, with 9 miles being the thinnest point at the panhandle. But you might be hard pressed to find a more tight knit group of sports fans than the State of Delaware. Delaware City has a just to be one of the top games in town (we do mean that literally, for the entire state). While Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens football will ALWAYS be THE game in the entire state of Delaware, DCFC has the chance to become of the most heralded and passionate fanbase, if they chose to cultivate it.
With that, we put a nice little bow on the M3 2025-26 season, its 6th.
Our final Super Six power rankings:
- Delaware City
- Muskegon Risers
- RGV Barracudas
- Roc City Boom
- OKC Certified Lions
- Cincinnati Swerve
With MASL3 wrapped up, we move ahead to the 2025-26 M2 season.
Des Moines, IA and Omaha, NE: The MASL will get the big names, the bright stars, and the bulk of the publicity, but let us tell you, the M2 has arguably one of the best potentials for growing the sport of arena soccer, much less the MASL brand. Don’t believe us? The M2 has gone from a “feeder” league, or reserve league, in some cases (teams like the St. Louis Ambush, San Diego Sockers, and Empyre Strikers have sent their reserves to M2 in recent years). However, the M2 has become a culture and league of it’s own, developing it’s own footprint and teams with local rivalries to give it it’s very own DNA, so to speak. The M2 has risen over the course of eight long and grueling seasons. The MASL took the time to nurture and grow it’s brand and product carefully. Build it and they will come, right? Top brass with the league have to be pleased with how that development process has grown. They have made their brand built to last and planted roots that are here to stay.
MEET THE M2
The 2025-26 M2 arena soccer season would began on December 6th, 2025 and end on April 12th, 2026. The league would see 17 teams in three divisions (East and Midwest Division with five, the West with seven). On January 15th, 2026, MASL 2 announced their 2026 playoff format. The M2 Playoffs would be held from April 17th-19th.
In a format more akin to the M1’s playoff format, the top two teams in each division would make the playoffs (except for hosts, the Omaha Kings, who qualify regardless of finish in the West, giving the other spot to the best team outside the Kings). The top two teams would receive a bye into the semifinals. The Quarterfinals would be played on April 17th and see a 3 vs 6 and 4 vs 5 matchup being played at the SIG SPORTSPLEX in Des Moines, Iowa. The 2026 M2 Semifinals and Finals would be played at Baxter Arena in Omaha, Nebraska, April 18th and 19th, 2026. With the playoff format set, let us meet the 17 teams competing on the 2025-26 M2 arena soccer season.
We have one more little wrinkle to address before we begin our season recap by divisions: that of the M1 (temporarily M2?) team, the Harrisburg Heat. The Heat were displaced from their home arena, the Equine Arena, forcing them to relocate to nearby Hershey Park Arena, for the 2025-26 season. They also decided to relegate to M2 temporarily as well. The goal was for M2 to be a one season thing with a full return to M1 after the season was over. As of this article, no decision has been made regarding their 2026-27 season affiliation. Harrisburg (the current incarnation) has been around since 2012-13, giving the region and sport some much needed longevity. With the Heat situation cleared up, we move ahead to the season recaps:
2025-26 M2 SEASON RECAP
EAST DIVISION RECAP:
As expected, Harrisburg turned up the heat on their competition, finishing with the best regular season record and clinching a semifinal berth in Omaha with relative ease. Elite Krajisnik, had a solid 8-4 season, securing the 5th seed and a date in Des Moines. Spicy City the Salisbury Steaks may not have made the postseason, but they have the coolest names in the entire M2, finishing 4-5 and 2-10 respectively. Both teams will be hungry to improve in 2026-27. As for FC Baltimore? They much to improve upon, compared to their predecessor, the Baltimore Arsenal. With their playoff spots clinched, Harrisburg and Krajisnik advanced to the 2026 M2 Playoffs.
MIDWEST DIVISION RECAP:
The Iowa Demon Hawks lost their first game in M2 history, losing the M2 Final last year in 2OT, to the Chihuahua Savage. Iowa still hasn’t lost a regular season game through two seasons, as they took the Midwest Division, finishing with the second best record in M2, going 12-0, but goal differential ultimately gave Harrisburg the top seed. Minnesota got better as the season went along, but still finished 3-9. Wichita had a very uncharacteristic 4-6-2 record from a normally dominating M2 squad. The Raptors had a much better season compared to their MASLW counterparts, but still finished 6-6 a tough division that includes Omaha and Iowa. Despite going 5-6-1, Omaha advanced as the tournament hosts, but would have to play in Des Moines for the first round. As for the Demon Hawks? They have to travel to Omaha because they secured a bye into the semifinals. With Iowa and host Omaha in the postseason, they prepare for the 2026 M2 playoffs.
WEST DIVISION RECAP:
Three of the seven teams in the West Division are based in Mexico. All three finished in the top half of the West, led by the Mexico City Ascension, going 11-1 and clinching the 3rd seed in the bracket. Guadalajara, despite going 4-6-2, were a very competitive squad, finishing with a +1 goal differential. As for the Suns? Sonora has a bright future, once again, despite missing the playoffs. A 7-4-2 record is a great season to build upon. Look for Sonora to make the M2 Playoffs next season. The Texas Spurs, got better, just as the Blizzard did, over the course of the season, finishing 3-9. Texas will be a tough out next season. Another former M1 team, The Turlock Cal Express, struggled, going 4-7-1. As for the new team out of Watsonville, California? The Black Hawks were 3-8-1, struggling to spread their wings in the tough West Division. OKC, long rumored to be an M1 expansion candidate, went 10-2 and finished second in the Division, clinching the 4 seed. With Mexico City and OKC clinching playoff berths, they advanced to the 2026 M2 Playoffs.
With all six playoff spots clinched, we had
2026 M2 PLAYOFFS
As we did with the MASLW Playoffs, I’ll take a step back and let the official M2 Playoffs Guide do the talking.
With our teams and playoff field introduced, I’ll hand it back to the official M2 Playoff Guide once more for our 2025-26 scoring leaders.
Now what exactly is arena soccer?
We’ll let the Playoff Guide answer.
With all our loose ends tied up, we move ahead to the M2 Playoffs.
But first….
The first quarterfinal game between Mexico City and Omaha would end in the most bizarre fashion you’ll ever see….a forfeit by a team who won the game. For you see Mexico City used an ineligible player (though it was for less than a minute and it wasn’t done to gain an advantage nor was it malicious) listed as a coach but not on the official gameday roster. The rules state an automatic forfeit. As a result, Mexico City’s amazing season comes to a tragic end, despite the fact they beat the Omaha Kings 6-2. With a forfeit win in hand, Omaha would advance to MASL2 Semifinals to face the Harrisburg Heat.
In our other quarterfinal at SIG SPORTSPLEX, OKC walloped Krajisnik 14-5, behind four point games each, from Jesus Fernando Penalver and Erik Haro (2G-2A-4PTS, each) the 5 seed from Utica briefly made it a game, cutting it to 7-5 thanks a strike from Francesco Pagano with 4:15 left in the 3rd, before the Certified Lions scored seven unanswered to ice the game. OKC will have the Iowa Demon Hawks. With OKC and semifinals/final Omaha, heading to Nebraska, we move onto the 2026 M2 Semifinals at Baxter Arena.
2026 M2 SEMIFINALS
Our first semifinal was a 1 vs 6 matchup of Harrisburg vs Omaha. The Heat cranked it up, scoring the game’s first four goals before Omaha responded with three unanswered. Harrisburg scored with just 2 seconds left in the half, making it 5-3 Heat. Harrisburg and Omaha would trade two goals each, Harrisburg grabbing two to start the half before Omaha would make it 7-5 with 13:54 to go, after scoring twice in 22 seconds. Manuel Lira (3G-1A-4PTS) would lead all scorers in this game. Harrisburg would ice the game with two in the fourth from Bruno Henrique, sending the Harrisburg Heat to their second ever arena soccer championship game, and the first since 1995, with a 9-5 win, to send them to the 2026 M2 arena soccer Championship.
Our second semifinal features a 2 vs 4 matchup with Iowa vs OKC. After a scoreless first, OKC would net two in the second, to give them a 2-0 lead at halftime. Was Iowa fated to lose to the new kids on the block? With four and a half minutes left in the third, the Certified Lions led 3-1. Iowa would respond by scoring twice in 23 seconds, then with 5 seconds left in the third quarter, to give the Demon Hawks a 4-3 lead going into the fourth. They would score three more in a 2:23 period of time midway through the fourth, to ice the game. OKC would get a couple of goals late, but it was too late, as Iowa won 8-5, setting up a showdown with Harrisburg for the 2026 MASL 2 arena soccer championship. Eddie Martinez and Jeanderson Pereira each had three points for Iowa (2G-1A-3PTS each).
With our M2 Final matchup set, we move ahead to the 2026 M2 Finals.
2026 M2 FINALS
The Demon Hawks opened the game with three straight markers, leading 3-0 with 8:48 to go in the 2nd. Harrisburg would change their franchise fate 20 seconds later, scoring three straight, tying it 3-3 going into the half. Both teams would exchange three goals each, with Iowa scoring twice to start the half before the Heat ended the third quarter with two straight, making it 6-6 going into the fourth quarter. The last 3:30 of the game was the perfect end to the M2 arena soccer season. Harrisburg scored, followed by Iowa with 2:13 left, then Harrisburg responded 11 seconds left, taking the lead for good, before adding an empty netter. Iowa scored with 24 seconds left to make it 8-7, but just like last season, the Demon Hawks would come up a goal short in the Finals, securing the Harrisburg Heat’s first ever arena soccer championship, as they defeated the Iowa Demon Hawks 8-7 to capture the 2026 M2 arena soccer championship. Roshawn Panton had four points (3G-1A-4PTS) to lead the Heat while Jose Lopez (3G-3PTS) and Guilherme Lopes (2G-1A-3PTS), led Iowa in the loss to Harrisburg.
Our final Super Six M2 Power Ranking for the 2025-26 season.
- Harrisburg Heat
- Iowa Demon Hawks
- Mexico City Ascension
- OKC Certified Lions
- Elite Krajisnik United
- Omaha Kings
LOOKING AHEAD
Next season will be the 10th in the MASL2’s history and 7th for the M3. Back on November 25th, 2025, the M2 announced that the Youngstown Nighthawks will field an M2 squad next season, making them the first team and organization to field a team with all leagues below the MASL. Youngstown will have a ways to go to be competitive as both their M3 and MASLW teams were among the worst in their respective leagues. In spite of that, both leagues have a lot to look forward to in the near future. The future of the sport of arena soccer is bright, with the growth of the roots of the MASL structure and pyramid going into 2026-27. The next season for M2 and M3 is going to be an exciting one. I will see you all next season.
Tomorrow, we wrap up our coverage with the MASL itself and our first best of three series for the Ron Newman Cup Finals.
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