First and Second Team All Major Arena Soccer League 3 honorees are announced

TAMPA, Florida -- With championship weekend almost here, Major Arena Soccer League 3 has revealed its selections for First and Second Team All League honors.

The MASL 3 playoffs start Friday at 11 a.m. in Fredericksburg, Virginia when the Cincinnati Swerve take on Delaware City FC. Additional quarterfinals will be at 1:30, 4 and 6:30 on Friday featuring the RGV Barracudas against the Roc City Boom, Cleveland Samba against the OKC Certified Lions and the Baltimore Kings meeting the Muskegon Risers respectively.

All playoff games will be broadcast free of charge at www.ballertv.com.

Following is a look at the All MASL 3 First and Second Team Selections.

MASL 3 FIRST TEAM ALL STARS

DANIEL MALHUE, Deportivo Shaolin

Malhue had a short but successful stint in the MASL, playing in 12 games for the Kansas City Comets and scoring two goals and adding three assists. He was tremendous in MASL 3 this year, leading the league in goals with 28 and recording 31 total points. He had back-to-back five goal games in mid-February against the Springfield Demize.

ELMEDIN ZUKIC, MUSKEGON RISERS

The Risers completed a perfect regular season, and Zukic was a big part of that. He proved to be a superb playmaker, finishing tied for third in the league in assists with 17, and could find the back of the net when needed as well, with 15 goals. He was seventh in overall scoring in the league. He had a season high seven assists in a February 28 win over Detroit Waza Flo.

Andriy Demydiv, ROC CITY BOOM

The Boom also were perfect in the regular season, and as the highest scoring team in the league, their offensive leaders was Demydiv, who led the league in total points with 41 and assists with 23. He was remarkable consistent, scoring at least four points in eight of Rochester's 10 wins. 

Angel Stanley Maravilla Chavez, MARYLAND STORM

The Storm were one of the best first-year team's in the league, and Chavez had a lot to do with that for veteran MASL 3 coach Liam Behrens. HIs 34 points on 22 goals and 12 assists were tied for third best in MASL 3, and his goals total was fourth best in the league. He had 26 of his total points in his team's push to the post season, covering their last four games. 

RAFAEL Zalvidar, OKC Certified Lions

The Lions won the South by holding off RGV and Deportivo Shaolin, and Zalvidar was a big reason for their 8-2 finish. He was second in the league in assists. And in 14 career MASL 3 games with the Lions, he has an amazing 56 points.

TRAVIS SCHMID, MUskegon RIsers

Schmid backstopped Muskegon to a 9-0-1 season. Sharing time with Jake Lofgren in net, both deserve mention for All First Team Honors. Schmid played more minutes, and was the winning goaltender in his team's key win over the Cincinnati Swerve February 28 in Muskegon. 

MASL 3 SECOND TEAM ALL-STARS

EDUARDO FIGUEROA, ROC CITY BOOM

Figueroa was tied for third in the league in total points, and easily could have been a first-team all star, finishing the season with 23 goals which was third best in the league as well. Now in 18 career games with Rochester, he has 50 goals and 22 assists.

FIKRET HASOVIC, MUSKEGON RISERS

Another that could have been a first teamer, Hasovic was excellent all year for the Risers. He scored 21 goals which tied for fifth best in the league, and totaled 33 points, which was also tied for fifth overall in the league. On February 28, he had nine goals and five assists in a win over the Detroit Waza Flo. 

MARCO DEL VECCHIO, OKC CERTIFIED LIONS

Del Vecchio played in the midfield, and also played the critical sixth-attacker position for the Lions, getting 11 goals and six assists. In 11 career games for OKC, he has 19 points. He also came up big when it mattered most, with multi point games twice against Deportivo Shaolin and once against RGV, the other top two teams in the South Division. 

ALI SHAWISH, BUFFALO GUNNERS

Shawish is a home-grown talent for the Buffalo based team, which improved as the season went on thanks in large part to the Lackawanna and Buffalo State standout. On the season, he had 16 goals and 24 total points, appearing in just seven games. He was key to a big upset win over the Cleveland Samba, 7-6, a game in which he had four goals and three assists. 

OSCAR LOPEZ, DELAWARE CITY FC

It's tough usually on a first-year team to be in net, but Lopez was the last line of defense often for a team that only gave up 35 goals all season, the third lowest total in the league. That included holding the Baltimore Kings to just two goals each in the final two games of the regular season as DCFC was batting for a playoff spot.