Chicago Riot Nets First MISL Win, Tops Missouri, 14-13
Published on December 19, 2010 under Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL)
Chicago Riot News Release
INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (Dec. 19, 2010) -- The Chicago Riot earned its first Major Indoor Soccer League victory with a 14-13 win over the Missouri Comets on Sunday at the Independence Events Center.
The Riot's Eric Lukin tallied the team's final two goals, Bato Radoncic had two goals and an assist, and goalkeeper Jeff Richey made 18 saves -- including a key diving stop in the closing seconds -- as Chicago broke through in the win column.
The Riot also jumped ahead of the Comets in the MISL standings. Chicago improves to 1-4 and moves into fourth place. Missouri falls to 1-5.
"This was a long-awaited win," Riot Head Coach Jeff Kraft said. "We went up, we went down. We showed a lot of heart and character in winning this one."
Chicago's 14 points also is an organization high. The Riot had scored a combined 14 points in its previous two matches against the Omaha Vipers and Milwaukee Wave.
"We were missing some scoring punch, and we went into double digits in this game to come up with the win," Kraft said. "Lukin and Bato played a good game, and defensively we stepped up when we needed to."
Next up for the Riot is a rematch against Missouri at 7:35 p.m. Friday, Jan. 7, 2011, at the Independence Events Center. Chicago's next home game takes place at 7 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 9, against the Omaha Vipers at the Odeum Sports and Expo Center in Villa Park, Ill. For tickets, visit www.ChicagoRiotSoccer.com or call 630-708-6284.
On Sunday, the Riot struck first at the 6:24 mark with a goal from Bato Radoncic to take a 2-0 lead. Chicago dominated with offensive pressure from the opening whistle, and Radoncic finally cashed in when he popped the ball over Comets goalkeeper Danny Waltman, who was hustling to the edge of the box to try and converge on the ball.
The Riot has scored the game's first goal in four of its five games this season.
But Missouri wasted no time tying the score at 2-2 when Vahid Assadpour tallied a goal at the 7:25 mark. Leo Gibson had the assist from the right side as Assadpour split a pair of Riot defenders on his run, received the pass in the box and shot the ball in between Richey's legs.
Tiguinho gave the Comets a 4-2 lead at the 1:46 mark of the second quarter as he won a 50-50 chance against recent Riot signing Sandre Naumoski, then fired the ball into the back of the net.
Chicago responded several minutes later at the 4:41 mark as Alex Megson shot the ball just inside the left post to tie the score at 4-4. Anthony Maher had the assist from the left side of the pitch.
The Riot then took a 6-4 lead on a quick counterattack with Chris Brisson's goal at the 10:44 mark of the second. Shortly after the Comets' restart, Richey distributed the ball out to Radoncic on the left flank, and he passed the ball into the box for Brisson, who had an easy tap-in goal with the empty net.
A critical moment for both sides came late in the second quarter and early in the third as the Comets had a two-man advantage to work with. A pushing penalty by Radoncic and a too-many-men penalty gave Missouri a huge advantage.
The Riot defense was able to withstand that stretch. But shortly after the second penalty expired in the third quarter, Missouri tied the score at 6-6 with Geison Moura's goal, followed by a Jamar Beasley goal for an 8-6 lead.
Riot midfielder Novica "Novi" Marojevic earned his first points of the season with a penalty-kick goal at the 7:23 mark to tie the score at 8-8. Missouri's Jeff Davis committed a hand ball to set up the Riot's scoring opportunity.
Missouri's Birche helped the Comets toward an 11-8 lead with a three-point power-play goal at the 8:44 mark of the third, capitalizing on Anthony Maher's hand ball infraction.
Chicago then went in a 6-0 run, starting with Radoncic's second goal at the 11:46 mark of the third to cut the deficit to 11-10. Lukin then gave the Riot a 12-11 lead on a penalty shootout goal. The primarily left-footed attacker went head-to-head against Waltman and maneuvered to his right for the tally.
Lukin then took advantage of a poor Comets clearance and earned his second goal of the match at the 7:27 mark of the fourth quarter for a 14-11 lead.
The Comets responded a minute later with Byron Alvarez's power-play goal at the 8:24 mark of the fourth. Richey saved Gibson's initial strike, but Alvarez was there for the rebound.
With 2:29 remaining, Missouri went with Assadpour as the sixth attacker. Naumoski tried to ice the game with 1:40 remaining, attempting to loft the ball over Assadpour. But Assadpour made the save, and Missouri attacked to the extent that Richey had to come up with a clutch save with only a few seconds left on the clock to secure the win.
Major Indoor Soccer League Stories from December 19, 2010
- Chicago Riot Nets First MISL Win, Tops Missouri, 14-13 - Chicago Riot
- Comets Still Looking for First Home Win - Kansas City Comets
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