Dallas RPFC, Iowa Demon Hawks roll into semi-finals with convincing wins

DES MOINES, Iowa -- The Major Arena Soccer League Semifinals are set for this afternoon and evening at Buccaneer Arena in Des Moines, with the host Iowa Demon Hawks and Dallas RPFC pulling away late for convincing wins in their quarterfinal games Friday.

RPFC knocked out the Cincinnati Sirens, the defending 2024 women's indoor soccer champions in the PASL, which became MASL W after this past summer's unification, with an 11-4 triumph.  In the nightcap, host Iowa fell down 2-0 early, and then rallied to defeat the ICT Aztecs 7-3. 

Iowa (No. 6 seed) will meet the No. 1 seed, Detroit City FC in a 7:30 p.m. start CDT, with the opener featuring RPFC (No. 5 seed) taking on the Chihuahua Savage, (No. 2 seed) at 4:30 p.m. CDT. Those two are both from the South Division, and revenge will be on the minds of both teams. Each team has one loss during the regular season as a result of a split of games between the two in Dallas. so the rubber match winner will advance to tomorrow's championship game.

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RPFC got a huge night from U.S. indoor star Kenne Kessler -- who had seven goals this past fall in leading the U.S. Women's National Minifootball team to a World Cup championship in Croatia -- as she scored six of her team's 11 goals. 

The key stretch came late in the second, with Cincinnati nursing a 2-1 lead. RPFC then ripped off three goals in the span of just 1:50, to take a 4-2 lead. They added another before the half to lead 5-2 at the break.

The Sirens pulled to within 5-3 on a goal by Kelsey Keown midway through the third, but then it turned into the Kessler show as she scored four straight unanswered -- two to end the third and two more at the start of the final quarter -- to allow Dallas to pull away. 

Additional goal getters for Dallas included Mitzy Guereca, Mya Ulloa, Angela Martinez and Angie Machado. Cincinnati's goal scorers were Keown with two, Macy Reep and goalkeeper Katrina Johnson.

ICT jumped to a quick 2-0 lead in the other quarterfinal showdown, on first quarter goals by Makayla Morgan and Cammie Davis, but Iowa responded with seven straight -- including a natural hat trick by Megan Groner -- to advance. Groner had primarily played in goal for Iowa during the regular season, and came into the postseason with just one goal scored.

Additional scorers for Iowa included Lily Overstreet, Josee Primeau, Allison Groothuis and Jordan McMahon. Jessica Miller had the other ICT goal for the Wichita, Kansas, based Aztecs.

Both semifinal games and Sunday's championship game will be broadcast live on the Iowa Champions League Network available on YouTube. 

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