Crunch Cap Off Fan Appreciation Weekend with 11-4 Victory Over Rockford Thunder

The Cleveland Crunch closed out Fan Appreciation Week in dominant fashion Sunday at the Wolstein Center in downtown Cleveland, defeating the Rockford Thunder 11-4 in front of an energized home crowd. The win completed a perfect 2-0 weekend for Cleveland as they celebrated their fans and continued building momentum heading into their upcoming road trip to Las Vegas.

The game started as a defensive battle, with both teams feeling each other out early. The first breakthrough came with 6:16 remaining in the opening quarter when Ryan Minick found the back of the net off an assist from Dave Jordan, giving the Crunch the first lead of the night.

Rockford responded quickly. With 4:07 on the clock, Marcos Talavera scored to tie the match at 1-1. Cleveland answered again with 3:13 remaining in the quarter when Admir Suljevic finished a play set up by Landon Kuhn to regain the lead. However, the Thunder would not go away quietly, as Angel Arias scored with 1:57 left in the quarter to even the score once again. The first quarter ended locked at 2-2.

The Crunch began to take control in the second quarter. With 7:12 on the clock, Mikey Derezic scored to put Cleveland back in front, assisted by Admir Suljevic. The offensive momentum continued when Dave Jordan added another goal at the 4:58 mark off a setup from Ma’Cain Spragling, extending the Crunch lead to 4-2.

Cleveland kept the pressure on, and Suljevic struck again with 3:26 remaining in the quarter, scoring on a power play to push the lead to 5-2 heading into halftime.

The Crunch offense exploded in the third quarter.

Just seconds into the period, Jordan scored again with 14:49 on the clock. Cleveland continued its offensive surge when Boban Cancar added a goal with an assist from Gabriel Pewu, followed by another strike from Omar Najjar, assisted by Sami Mutemwa.

The goals kept coming as Derezic scored again to extend the lead to 9-2. Derezic then found the net once more with 9:19 remaining, assisted by Suljevic, pushing the score to 10-2.

The Crunch weren’t done yet. Kuhn added another goal off an assist from Pedro Tzul, bringing Cleveland’s total to 11 goals on the night.

Rockford managed a late response with a goal from Victor Gomez, followed by another score from Angel Arias with 1:11 remaining, but the damage had already been done.

The Crunch secured the 11-4 victory, closing out Fan Appreciation Week.

After the game, Head Coach Antonio Manfut expressed his satisfaction with the weekend sweep, noting how important it was for the team to perform well in front of their fans.

“I’m happy we were able to come away from Fan Appreciation Week 2-0,” Manfut said. “Now we’re focused and ready for the Vegas trip.”

Derezic, who had a standout performance, echoed that mindset following a demanding weekend of games.

“It was a tiring weekend playing two competitive teams,” Derezic said. “But we’re ready for the Vegas trip.”

Derezic’s performance earned him MetroHealth Man of the Match honors.

With the victory, Cleveland carries strong momentum as it prepares for the upcoming road trip to Las Vegas for the MLIS Finals.