Kings for a day, Baltimore tips defending champ Nova FC for opening night triumph

TAMPA, Florida -- If opening night for Major Arena Soccer League 3 was any indication, fans from 27 different franchises are in for a treat this winter.

Saturday night in Winchester, Virginia, the Baltimore Kings opened the 2024-25 MASL 3 season with a rousing 10-8 win over Northern Virginia FC, the league's three-time defending champions.

And teams in the MASL pyramid might want to keep an eye on one Kings player in particular. The Kings are no strangers to sending players up the professional indoor soccer pyramid in the Charm City area, having had players play for both the MASL 2 Baltimore Arsenal and MASL Baltimore Blast in previous seasons.

On the radar early is Antonios Araviakis, who was a monster for Baltimore with five goals and one assist. In fact, the Kings had multi-goal efforts from three players to secure the win, including a hat trick from Gavin Boyer and and a two-goal night from Alex Shipley.

Josh Danza had thre assists for Baltimore.  Richard Espinoza and Chris Avila each had two goals for Nova Fc. while Ahmed Sheta chipped in with three assists.  

It's the second straight season that Nova -- who went 10-2 in the regular season last year and won the title -- dropped its season opener. It was the second straight opening night win for the Kings, who defeated the Salisbury Steaks 7-2 last December. The Steaks won't get a chance to avenge that defeat this year, however, as they have moved up to MASL 2 for the 2024-25 season. 

Vinni Verdi and Kemal Kurtulus split time in goal for the Kings while Huber Latona went the distance in goal for Nova FC, who is next in action November 17 when they host the Virginia Marauders while Baltimore will  host the Philadelphia Spartans on Saturday, Nov. 16 in the Kings' home opener.

The two teams are part of the five-team Atlantic Division, one of six divisions in MASL 3 this year which came about with the unification this summer with the Premier Arena Soccer League. All teams will play a 10-game regular season schedule, with all games played within their respective divisions. The Great Lakes North Division will kick off on November 16 as Kalamazoo United hosts Detroit Waza Flo. Openers for the other divisions -- East, Great Lakes South, Heartland and South -- are set for the coming weekends.