Chicago Storm Defeated by Baltimore Blast 6-5

Published on February 27, 2005 under Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2)
Chicago Storm News Release


Chicago (Sunday, February 27, 2005) – The Chicago Storm had their seven-seven game home winning streak snapped Sunday afternoon after dropping a 6-5 decision to the two-time defending MISL champion Baltimore Blast at the UIC Pavilion. The Storm fell to 13-14 in the MISL and and are in a fourth-place tie after the Cleveland Force defeated the Kansas City Comets earlier in the day. "Yellow and Black" midfielder Lazo Alavanja extended his point-scoring streak to eight straight games after registering an assist on a goal by Matthew Stewart in the second quarter. The Storm will now head to Kansas City on Wednesday, March 2, for a mid-week match-up against the Comets at 7:05 p.m. CT at Kemper Arena.

"I am very disappointed with the effort today," said Storm Head Coach Frank Klopas. "They guys were tired after the game on Friday, but we need to do a better job of making changes. The games are getting tougher as we get closer to the playoffs. We need to come out with the intensity and the speed that we are capable of. We have another quick turnaround with a game on Wednesday against Kansas City, so we need to be mentally ready to play against another tough team."

Baltimore registered the game-winning goal at the 6:32 mark of the fourth quarter after forward Tarik Walker found defender Wendell Regis who was streaking down the right side of the field. Regis broke loose and slipped a shot past Storm goalkeeper Danny Waltman on the breakaway, giving the Blast a 6-4 lead.

In the first quarter, the Blast scored early after midfielder Allen Eller passed off the boards in left corner to Walker, who one-times the pass past a diving Waltman for a 1-0 lead. The Storm came back and tied up the game 1-1 at the 5:14 mark after forward Nino DaSilva picked up his first of two assists after he passed off the boards to forward Mark Ughy. The Miskolc, Hungry native controlled the pass and chipped in a shot over Blast goalkeeper Sagu for his 23rd goal of the season.

The Blast scored 54 seconds into the second quarter to take a 2-1 lead after midfielder Lee Tschantret registered an unassisted goal from the right wing after the ball deflected off of Storm defender Leo Pernia in front of the net. Late in the second quarter, Baltimore extended their lead to 3-1 after defender Jeff Hare cleared a long pass to midfielder/forward David Bascome, who settled the ball, eluded Storm defender Tijani Ayegbusi and fired a shot past Waltman.

The Storm answered right back after Alavanja's chipped a pass across the box and Sagu deflected it, but midfielder Matthew Stewart leaped to head the ball into the back of the net and cut the Baltimore lead to 3-2.

In the third quarter, the Blast extended their lead to 4-2 after Bascome found Eller racing up the center of the box and connected with a quick shot past Waltman. The "Yellow and Black" cut into the lead after Ughy passed across the box from the right side and found midfielder Sandre Naumoski in the left corner. The Skopje, Macedonia native gathered the pass and blasted a shot past Sagu to make the score 4-3. The Storm tied up the game 4-4 late in the third quarter after Naumoski passed the ball off the boards, but Walker's attempt to clear the ball bounced off of Jorge Valle's chest and into the net.

Bascome tallied his second of the game for the Blast with only nine seconds remaining in the third quarter. Tschantret flipped a pass from the right wing and Bascome one-timed it past Waltman for a 5-4 Baltimore lead.

Baltimore extended their lead to 6-4 after Walker found Regis on a breakaway down the right side of the field. The Storm managed to cut into the lead after Ughy registered his second goal of the game on a pass from DaSilva off of a freekick from the top of the box. With just over two minutes left to play in the game, the Storm brought on Novi as the sixth attacker. Unfortunately, Baltimore was able to hold off the late rally by the "Yellow and Black" to preserve the 6-5 victory.

The Storm will return to the UIC Pavilion on Saturday, March 12 to face off against the Kansas City Comets at 7:00 p.m. CT. The first 3,000 fans in attendance will receive a Frank Klopas bobblehead doll courtesy of Comcast SportsNet. This will the fourth meeting between the two teams, with the Comets leading the series 2-1. This game can be heard live on www.chicagostorm.net in English and on Univision Radio WRTO 1200 AM in Spanish.

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Major Indoor Soccer League 2 Stories from February 27, 2005


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