Chicago Riot Hosts Omaha in 2nd Leg Sunday at Odeum
February 12, 2011 - Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL)
Chicago Riot News Release
CHICAGO (Feb. 12, 2011) -- The Chicago Riot takes on the Omaha Vipers for the second time in three days when Chicago hosts the fellow 2010-2011 Major Indoor Soccer League newcomers at 7 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 13, at the Odeum Sports and Expo Center in Villa Park, Ill. The game is available through a live webcast accessible through MISL.net, and Spanish-language radio at LaMaquinaDeportiva.com.
Tickets start at only $10. Visit www.ChicagoRiotSoccer.com or call 630-708-6284.
The Riot (3-10) is coming off a 16-15 loss to the Vipers on Friday at the Omaha Civic Auditorium. Chicago led for most of the match and carried multiple fourth-quarter leads. The Riot held a 15-12 advantage in the closing minutes until Omaha's Johnny Torres scored back-to-back goals to catapult the Vipers to the win. Torres had four goals in the fourth quarter. Riot captain Fred Degand had two goals in the match.
Chicago defender Betim Bekteshi, who was signed late in the week, made his Riot debut on Friday. Target forward Anthony Maher did not make the trip to Omaha, but he is expected to suit up for the Riot on Sunday. In other Riot player news, Brazilian midfielder Andre is out this weekend with a groin injury, and defender/midfielder Chris Brisson also is out with a knee injury.
The Vipers (7-7) solidified their third-place stance in the MISL standings on Friday. If Omaha wins Sunday, the Riot would be forced to win out the remainder of its regular-season games to mathematically stay in contention for the third and final playoff spot. The Vipers earned the head-to-head series win against Chicago and holds the tiebreaker advantage with a 3-0 series lead heading into Sunday's final Riot-Vipers matchup.
The Vipers have outscored the Riot by a 46-32 margin. The brunt of that points difference came when the Vipers topped the Riot, 17-6, on Dec. 10 in Omaha.
Notes:
- Scoring leaders: Riot forward Bato Radoncic leads Chicago with 30 points and 12 goals. Radoncic, who was recently named MISL Player of the Week, has scored at least one point in nine of his past 10 games and a goal in seven of his past nine games. Radoncic and Riot captain Fred Degand lead the Riot with six assists apiece. ... Vipers forward Carlos "Chile" Farias leads Omaha with 17 goals, 10 assists and 49 points. Farias currently is second in the league in points, trailing only the Missouri Comets' Byron Alvarez (54 points).
- Familiar faces, local ties: Omaha forward Chile Farias, defender Fabinho and forward Freddy Moojen have previous ties to the Chicago Storm. Fabinho and Vipers defenders Tijani Ayegbusi and Ibrahim Kante previously played for the Rockford Rampage.
- Capitalizing on power play: Friday's fourth quarter included three Vipers goals on the power play, as well as a Riot power play goal by Novica "Novi" Marojevic. Five blue cards were issued during the quarter (four to the Riot), so there was only one occasion when Omaha did not turn a Riot blue card into a power play tally.
- Offense picking up: The Riot is averaging 14.5 points per game over its past four matches. By comparison, Chicago averaged 6.75 points per game in the team's first four matches this season, failing to score in double figures during that stretch.
- MISL Injury Report: Chicago Riot -- Andre (groin, out), Chris Brisson (knee, out); Omaha Vipers -- no injuries reported.
- Milestone watch: Riot midfielder Ptah Myers needs one goal for 75 in his career. Myers netted his first goal with the Riot during Friday's loss to Omaha. ... Semir Mesanovic needs seven points for 200 in his career.
About the Riot's opponent, the Omaha Vipers: One of three new teams for the 2010-2011 MISL season, the Omaha Vipers joined the league in August of 2010 as part of the league's growing Midwest contingent. The Vipers are led by head coach and forward Marcelo Fontana. This is Fontana's first season as a head coach, and before the 2010-2011 season he played in 384 games, scoring 179 goals and accumulating 433 points -- the bulk of his time with the Milwaukee Wave.
Omaha's attacking base includes forward Carlos "Chile" Farias, who was named to the 2009-2010 All-MISL First Team after posting 17 assists, 16 goals and 53 points last season to help lead La RaZa de Monterrey to the championship over host Milwaukee. Farias and Omaha native Ryan Junge were the first two players to sign with the Vipers.
With Monterrey not playing for the 2010-2011 season, the Vipers took advantage by bringing in several other players from the MISL champion La RaZa squad, including goalkeeper Jose Bontti, midfielder Victor Quiroz, forward Shaun David and defender Ibrahim Kante who split his time between Monterrey and the Rockford Rampage.
In late November, the Vipers signed Brazilian defender Fabinho, who finished the 2009-2010 season with the Baltimore Blast. Fabinho has been on several Midwest-based clubs, including the Kansas City Comets, Chicago Storm and Rockford Rampage.
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Major Indoor Soccer League Stories from February 12, 2011
- NASL Provisionally Sanctioned As Division 2 Professional Outdoor Soccer League For 2011 Season - MISL
- Chicago Riot Hosts Omaha in 2nd Leg Sunday at Odeum - Chicago Riot
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