Chicago Riot Eliminated From Postseason Contention

February 26, 2011 - Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL)
Chicago Riot News Release


VILLA PARK, Ill. - The Chicago Riot's postseason hopes were put to rest on Saturday as the Missouri Comets defeated Chicago, 23-7, in Major Indoor Soccer League action at the Odeum Sports and Expo Center.

The Riot fell to 4-13 on the season, while Missouri moved into a third-place tie with the Omaha Vipers with a 7-11 record. The Comets' 10-0 run spanning the second and third quarters was the difference. Missouri also ended the game with an 11-0 run, but three of the four goals came when Miodrag "Miki" Djirisilo came into the game as the sixth attacker.

Riot goalkeeper Jeff Richey had 16 saves, and Comets goalkeeper Danny Waltman had 18 saves.

Next up is the Riot is the team's home finale at 7 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 27, against the first-place Baltimore Blast at the Odeum. Singer and songwriter Shannon Behm will perform the national anthem, sing at halftime and hold a free post-game show in the upstairs Odeum Lounge. Tickets start at only $10. Visit www.ChicagoRiotSoccer.com or call 630-708-6284.

The Riot has three regular-season matches remaining this season, capped off by a two-game road trip against Baltimore on March 4 and Missouri on March 6.

The Riot got on the scoreboard in the first 24 seconds with a Bato Radoncic restart goal from Novica "Novi" Marojevic to take a 2-0 lead. Novi faked to his right, go the Comets defense to shift over a bit, and Radoncic struck for the goal on the left side.

Comets midfielder Lucas Rodriguez tied the score at 2-2 at the 8:39 mark with an unassisted goal. Rodriguez opened up some space with some crossover moves against Riot defender Marco Sullo, shot to the lower right side of the net and slotted the ball past Richey.

The Riot pushed their lead to 5-2 with a Roberto Gallo three-point goal from the right side as he drove the ball past Waltman to the left side of the netting. Novi assisted from from the back.

Missouri responded only 26 seconds into the second quarter with a Jamar Beasley goal to cut Chicago's lead to 5-4. Then the Comets took the lead with Geison Moura's two-point goal at the 6:28 mark of the second quarter. Byron Alvarez assisted from the left side.

The Comets took advantage of a power play opportunity with Rodriguez's second goal of the game at the 6:02 mark of the third to take an 8-5 lead. Leo Gibson assisted. Then Beasley kept the Comets' run going with a tap-in goal, assisted from Gibson, at the 9:48 mark of the third to push their lead to 10-5. Beasley's second goal extended Missouri's run to 8-0.

Missouri pushed its run to 10-0 as the Comets intercepted the ball around midfield, eventually resulting in an Alvarez tap-in goal at the 13:18 mark of the third to give Missouri a 12-5 lead heading into the final quarter.

But Chicago started the fourth on the right note with an Alex Megson goal at close range in the box, assisted from Sullo, to cut the deficit to 12-7. Lukin also had two key goal-line stops to prevent the Comets from responding.

However, the Comets had an answer following Lukin's elbowing penalty. Vahid Assadpour tallied a three-point power play goal at the 9:33 mark of the fourth to take a 15-7 lead. Chicago then put Djirisilo in as sixth attacker, but Missouri found an opening with Moura's unassisted score at 10:47 for a 17-7 advantage.

Alvarez pushed the lead to 20-7 with an empty net three-point goal at the 12:38 mark of the fourth. And Waltman got into the act with a three-point distribution at 14:12 for the 23-7 final.

Riot captain Fred Degand missed Saturday's match, serving a one-game suspension from a red card issued to him during Chicago's 9-7 loss to Missouri on Feb. 20. Degand returns for Sunday's game against Baltimore.



Major Indoor Soccer League Stories from February 26, 2011


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.

OurSports Central