FC Berlin weekend debut fulfills 2025-26 North American footprint for MASL W

TAMPA, Florida – It's only taken two season for Major Arena Soccer League Women to become a true North American league.

With this weekend's debut of FC Berlin, based out of Kitchener, Ontario, MASL W will have spread its wings over all three countries in North America. It is the first-ever Canadian based team in the lower tiers of the Major Arena Soccer League pyramid of pro soccer (MASL 2, MASL 3 and MASL W). 

Founded in 2017, FC Berlin also currently has a men's outdoor team in the UPSL, and women's team in the UWS that play their home games out of Buffalo, NY. 

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However, its new women's indoor team will play in its home base of Kitchener, giving the league 24 teams in Canada, the United States and Mexico in just its second season of play. They will play in the Great Lakes North division along with Detroit City FC, Youngstown Nighthawks and Indiana, United. 

Gabriel and Santiago Almada started the club and continue as its leaders today. Both are licensed coaches in the United States and Canada, and Santiago continues on occasion to suit up for the team.

The pair said expanding the club's horizons to join Major Arena Soccer League Women made sense for the 2025-26 season.

“Historically, our women's program have been very strong,” Gabriel said. “We have a lot of success with our youth programs, a lot of Division 1 scholarships in the United States and Canada. And we felt at this time we had a group of really commuted players with the right talent level to pursue MASL W.”

The club recently won the the Ontario Women's Futsal league in 2024-25 and had a number of its players win the Ontario Futsal Cup this year while suiting up for a team out of Windsor. In addition, the FC Berlin youth team won the 2023 Ontario Cup and represented the province at nationals later that year. With that success, and when the pair learned about the MASL, “we thought it was a great idea. It felt natural for us to find a new outlet.”

The team will lean heavily on several veterans, including Samantha Murphy, who starred at the University of Memphis and played professional in Sweden. In 2024, she was Ontario's League One MVP as its top scorer. In her career as an NCAA Division I Tiger, she appeared in 70 games, scoring 18 goals and adding nine assists.

Other leaders will include Kristen Bettencourt and Nicole Mailloux who will serve as team captains. Bettencourt is an assistant women's soccer coach at Ontario Tech, and represented Guyana on the international stage, picking up three caps for their national team. She is currently a member of the Pickering FC League1 Ontario side. Mailloux played collegiately for the University of West Virginia. 

Santiago said he is excited for the season ahead, and knows what type of team, and players, he is looking for to complete in MASL W this winter.

“This is a great way to provide more opportunities for the ladies we have in our area. It's an outlet that is very competitive and it gives us a year-round platform,” said Santiago, who played collegiately at Cleary University in Michigan and who will serve as the team's coach.  “The people we want are people you want to hang out with, that are willing to learn, that are excellent players to begin with, but hungry to get better. And they need to be great representatives on and off the field and part of something bigger  than just themselves.”

MASL W Commissioner Chris Economides said reaching into the Canadian market is important for the sport as a whole.

“FC Berlin will carry the flag, so to speak, proudly and with a history in Canadian soccer that provides a great foundation for success,” Economides noted. “The MASL strives to be a true North American presence, and we are excited about having Kitchener as our first market in a country where we think more clubs and cities will be joining in the coming years.”

FC Berlin will make an Ohio swing in their debut this weekend when they play in Youngstown Saturday to take on the Nighthawks and in Cincinnati on Sunday against the Sirens.