Chicago Storm drops 6-4 result to St. Louis

Published on March 26, 2005 under Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2)
Chicago Storm News Release


Chicago – The Chicago Storm dropped a 6-4 result to the St. Louis Steamers tonight at the Savvis Center in St. Louis, MO. Steamers' defender Jeff Davis scored the game-winner with 36 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Chicago dropped to 15-17 in the MISL and are two games behind the Steamers, who increased their record to 17-15 for the fourth and last playoff spot. The Storm will now travel to Baltimore to face the two- time defending champion Blast Saturday, March 26 at 6:35 p.m. CT at 1st Mariner Arena. The game can be heard live on www.chicagostorm.net.

"This was a tough loss," said Storm Head Coach Frank Klopas. "The team played very well, but the bounces just did not go our way tonight. St. Louis is a good team and we have had some good games against them this season. We have to do a better job finishing our chances and taking advantage of the mistakes made by our opponents. They did that to us tonight. Now, we have to stay focused and get ready for tomorrow night in Baltimore."

The Storm struck first when midfielder Matthew Stewart gathered a pass from forward Mark Ughy in the center of the field. The El Paso, TX native raced in alone on St. Louis goalkeeper Brett Phillips and fired a shot over the left shoulder of Phillips. The shot caromed off the right post and nestled in the back of the net to give Chicago a 1-0 lead at 10:30 of the first quarter.

St. Louis evened the score at 1-1 at 13:54 of the first quarter when Jeff Di Maria took a shot that ricocheted off of Storm defender Fred DeGand and found the back of the net. Chicago took the lead again at 8:29 of the second stanza when Ughy slotted a shot through the legs of Phillips and into the goal for his 26th goal of the season, giving the Storm a 2-1 advantage. St. Louis closed out the first half by knotting the score at 2-2. Midfielder Mariano Bollella placed a shot past Storm goalkeeper Danny Waltman with 1:18 remaining in the half.

Both teams continued to exchange goals in the third quarter as St. Louis took their first lead of the game at 3-2 with only 21 seconds elapsing in the stanza. Waltman tackled Steamers midfielder Shaun David and St. Louis was issued a shootout attempt as Waltman denied David a scoring opportunity. Forward Joe Reiniger slotted the attempt past backup Storm goalkeeper Jeff Richey to give St. Louis the lead. Chicago battled back and at 8:51 were rewarded with a goal from Mexican forward Jorge Valle. Midfielder David Schneider hit a pass that wrapped around the boards and deflected off of Phillips. The ball landed in front of the net and Valle knocked it into the open net to tie the game 3-3.

St. Louis again took the lead at 12:30 of the third quarter when newly acquired forward Carlos "Chile" Farias blasted a freekick past Waltman for the 4-3 advantage. Once again, Chicago tied the game at 4-4 when Storm captain Ted Chronopoulos gathered a through-ball up the right wing and passed it off the boards. Forward Awadalla Morad got free in front of the net and knocked in his 12th goal of the season.

With 1:36 remaining in the third quarter, Davis scored the game-winning goal. St. Louis then tacked on an insurance goal as Marco Lopez took advantage of a miscue by Waltman and bounced a shot past the goalkeeper for the 6-4 win.

The Storm will return to Chicago on Sunday, April 3 when they take on the Steamers again at the UIC Pavilion at 6:00 p.m. CT. Prior to the game, the Storm will host the Chicago Soccer Legends Game at 4:30 p.m. CT. The Storm will also retire Chicago soccer great Karl-Heinz Granitza's number 12 as part of the festivities for the Legends Game. For more information on the Legends Game, please call (312) 226-GOAL (4625).

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Major Indoor Soccer League 2 Stories from March 26, 2005


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