Season 3 of the NAFL season started with 6 teams and finished with new champions, as the Fresno Force scored the Game Winning Goal in the Troy Cup Final against the Texas 39ers with 4 seconds to go to lift the Troy Cup for the first time and become only the 2nd team to ever win the NAFL championship.
For the first time in the North American Floorball League the Troy Cup will be heading west of Florida as the Fresno Force took the Championship trophy home with a 7-6 win over the Texas 39ers in a close final. The decisive goal was scored with 4 seconds to go in the 3rd period by Alex Neumann to break Texan hearts and send the Lions of Fresno into a frenzy.
Season 3 of the NAFL started back in early July in Georgetown, Texas before a second stop in Nashville, Tennessee and ending up in Duluth, Minnesota alongside the large Finnfest celebrating all things Nordic and Finnish in the north of the US. The Texas 39ers started off the strongest in the beginning of the season with their first 4 matches all being wins. Goals were certainly on the menu during this NAFL season with many matches seeing over 15 goals combined, showing off the attacking talent on display. Melvin Alm Mendoza and Billy Nillsson were key for Fresno throughout the season finishing joint top of the scoring statistics with 34 points. Other standout performances included Andreas Kleczewski from Seattle who achieved a remarkable 24 goals and 31 points in 10 games for a Seattle side that often struggled to compete with some of the other teams in the league. They came back fighting at the end however, winning their final two matches to make sure they did not finish the season without a win to their name. Tim Andersson-Carlsson was key for the 39ers on both the offensive and defensive end helping them reach a final that could have gone either way, with how close it was throughout 59 minutes. Tiitus Salokangas impressed at the 3v3 WFC earlier this year for Finland Blue, helping them achieve 3rd place and was on fine form again for the Growlers who looked dangerous throughout. The Ohio Aviators had a large Canadian presence on the field but it was Czech goalkeeper Petr Chlad who was the busiest, having to go outfield as a player in their last game due to injuries. The Fort Worth Jaguars had several young American players on their squad as they embraced the original idea of the league to help domestic players grow and evolve alongside elite European players. Ryan Folic, Rylan Rasmussen and Landon VanPatten all recently featured for the US U19 team at the U19 WFC 2023 in Denmark and also contributed to the Jaguars this season with VanPatten impressing with 4 goals and 7 points.
An experienced group of referees were also travelling throughout the USA from across Europe alongside US ref Vince Faso. Taking the final was a mixed pair of Janne Sjögren from Finland and Corina Wehinger from Switzerland who have both been at several Men’s World Championships already, making sure the level of refereeing never dropped throughout the season.
Final standings from the NAFL Season 3 are as follows:
CHAMPIONS – Fresno Force
2nd – Texas 39ers
3rd – Minnesota Growlers
4th – Fort Worth Jaguars
5th – Ohio Aviators
6th – Seattle Sockeyes
Photos by Adam Troy
