Silver Knights Take Final Thruway Joust

The Silver Knights opened the scoring six minutes into the first quarter. They never looked back, keeping the Lancers off the board for the entire first half. Ryan Pierce scored the quarter's lone goal. In the second quarter, a long throw by goalkeeper Bryan O'Quinn found Enrique Tovar who knocked it into the net. Tovar helped Cory Elenio find the net ten minutes later, and Darren Toby added his name to the score sheet just seconds after that.

The Lancers came out firing in the third quarter, but Nelson Santana spoiled their party with his first of three goals on the night. Carlos Farias would finally put the Lancers on the board midway through the third quarter with a three-pointer on the power play, but Andriy Budnyy matched scores seven minutes later with his own goal from beyond the arc. Goals on either end of the break gave the Lancers hope in the fourth quarter. But their hopes were quickly doused when Slavisa Ubiparipovic score just ten seconds later. The Lancers found net only once more while the Knights scored five more times to end the game.

Syracuse keeper Bryan O'Quinn came up big in his second straight start, saving 25 of 29 shots and keeping a clean sheet into the third quarter. O'Quinn also had an assist in the first quarter, and his long throw to an open J.D. Gruenwald late in the fourth sealed the game for the Knights.

The win puts the Silver Knights in position to overtake the Lancers for second place in the division. Both teams now have an 8-12 record, but the Lancers hold the tiebreaker by virtue of a 4-2 season series record against the Knights. A win by the Knights on Tuesday at Norfolk would put them a half game ahead of the Lancers, who are idle until Saturday.

Tuesday's game against the Norfolk SharX is Syracuse's last away game in the regular season. Kickoff is at 7:00 PM; fans can follow the action on MISLLiveSoccer.com and through the Silver Knights Twitter account, @CuseKnightsMISL.

The Silver Knights close out the regular season with three games at the Oncenter, beginning Wednesday, February 22 at 7:00 PM against league-leaders Milwaukee Wave. The Silver Knights play again just days later when the Wichita Wings visit on Saturday the 25th, also at 7:00 PM. The final home game is at 4:00 PM on Sunday, March 4 against Eastern Division champion Baltimore Blast. Tickets are available for all games and can be purchased at the Oncenter box office or by visiting SyracuseSilverKnights.com.

• Discuss this story on the Major Indoor Soccer League message board...
• Digg this story
• Add to Del.icio.us
Tweet

Major Indoor Soccer League Stories from February 12, 2012

• Comets Clinch Playoff Berth with Win Over Milwaukee - Missouri Comets
• Wave Battle Back But Fall Short in Loss Against Comets - Milwaukee Wave
• Silver Knights Take Final Thruway Joust - Syracuse Silver Knights
• Lancers Fall at Home to Syracuse - Rochester Lancers

The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.