Chicago Storm Meets Division Leaders Philadelphia & Kansas City This Week

December 14, 2004 - Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2)
Chicago Storm News Release


Chicago (Tuesday, December 14, 2004) – After suffering a tough 9-5 loss Sunday afternoon against Philadelphia (6-5), the Chicago Storm (6-6) will look to steal one back from the Eastern Division-leading KiXX on Friday, December 17 at 7:30 p.m. CT at the UIC Pavilion. The game can be heard live on Univision Radio WRTO 1200 AM in Spanish and on www.chicagostorm.net in English. The teams have split the two games so far this season and former Philadelphia and now Storm midfielder Andy Guastaferro has recorded two goals and two assists against his former teammates.

Canned Food Drive: The Chicago Storm will be teaming up with the Greater Chicago Food Depository on Friday, December 17 when the Strom will take on the Philadelphia KiXX at 7:30 p.m. CT at the UIC Pavilion. Fans who bring in non-perishable food items will receive one free ticket voucher for any future Storm game (December 17 game excluded).

Section 8 Fundraiser: On Thursday, December 16 Section8Chicago, the independent supporters association of the Chicago Fire and Chicago Storm, will host the organization's first ever fundraising event, at Small Bar, located at 2049 W. Division in Chicago from 6:30 p.m.-10:00 p.m. Doors at the Wicker Park pub will open at 6:00 p.m., and the event will feature a Q&A session hosted by Chicago Storm play-by-play announcer Kenn Tomasch, with panelists Storm Assistant GM Nick Di Benedetto and Fire GM Peter Wilt. A silent auction and a raffle will feature prizes from the Storm, Fire, Section 8 Chicago and Small Bar. In addition, the music group Ness will conclude the festivities on stage with a concert beginning at 10:00 p.m. A voluntary donation of $15 will be accepted at the door, while five raffle tickets can be purchased for $10 and fifteen raffle tickets for $20. Storm Head Coach and General Manager Frank Klopas, defender Lazo Alavanja, midfielder Andy Guastaferro and goalkeeper Danny Waltman will be appearing at the event and signing autographs.

Night and Day: For the second consecutive week, the "Yellow and Black" will play an evening contest at home and then travel for an afternoon encounter. This time, the trip takes the Storm to Kansas City (4-3) on Saturday, where they will face off against Western Division-leading Comets for the first time ever at 1:05 p.m. CT at the Kemper Arena. The contest can be heard live on www.chicagostorm.net. The Storm defeated the Baltimore Blast last Saturday evening at the Pavilion and then traveled to Philadelphia for a 12:05 p.m. CT match-up, where the team lost to the KiXX.

Individual tickets are available and range in price from $8 to $25 and can be purchased by calling the Storm's front office (312) 226-GOAL (4625), Ticketmaster (312) 559-1212 or by visiting www.ticketmaster.com. Fans can also purchase individual tickets at the UIC box office located on 525 South Racine, Chicago, IL 60607. The box office is open from 12:00 noon until 6:00 p.m. Monday to Friday and 10:00 a.m. through 4:00 p.m. on Saturday.

Mo' Goals for Morad: Chicago Storm forward Awadalla Morad will look to continue his stellar play this weekend against the Philadelphia KiXX and Kansas City Comets. The speedy forward has racked up seven goals and four assists for 11 total points after only playing six professional games for the Storm. Morad's most recent goal came this past Sunday afternoon at Philadelphia when he scored 4:08 into the third quarter, tying the game up 4-4, although the Storm went on to lose by a final of 9-5. He also picked up two goals and one assist in a 10-6 victory over the two-time defending champion Baltimore Blast on December 11 at the UIC Pavilion. "Awad" made his first appearance in a Storm uniform against the Milwaukee Wave on November 26 after missing the first 6 games of the season due to a groin injury. After making a full recovery, the West Bank, Palestine native made a huge impact with two goals and one assist in a thrilling 8-7 victory over division rival Milwaukee at the UIC Pavilion. Morad, who now lives in Burbank, Illinois then proceeded to record one goal and two assists in an 8-7 loss against the St. Louis Steamers at the Savvis Center two days later.

Season Series against Philadelphia: So far this season, the Storm has faced off against the KiXX two times with each team bagging one victory. The "Yellow and Black" faced off against the Philadelphia KiXX for the first time back on November 14, at the Wachovia Spectrum. The KiXX came into the contest with a record of 4-0 and was in first-place in the eastern conference. However, midfielder Novi Marojevic scored twice and dished out an assist to help the Storm defeat the KiXX 7-4, handing them their first loss of the season. The Storm traveled to Philadelphia for the second time this season on December 12, where the KiXX pulled out a 9-5 victory, evening the season series at 1-1. The "Yellow and Black" tied the game at 4-4 early in the third when forward Awadalla Morad bagged his seventh goal of the season on an unassisted power play goal. However, the KiXX managed to score three straight goals to pull away for the victory.

Coming on Strong: Storm midfielder Andy Rosenband has made a strong impact on the team so far this season, and will look to continue his stellar play this weekend against Philadelphia and Kansas City. Rosaband's first goal of his indoor soccer career came during an 8-7 victory of division rival Milwaukee on November, 26 at the UIC Pavilion when he slipped a header right past Milwaukee's goalkeeper Nick Vorberg on an assist from forward Awadalla Morad. Since then, the Hammond, Indiana native has recorded six goals, including four this past weekend, giving him a total of seven goals in 11 games played to tie him for second on the team behind Byron Alvarez (8). Rosenband has also dished out two assists this season, ranking him sixth on the team in points with nine in his first year of indoor soccer.

Continued Success: Storm goalkeeper Danny Waltman has proved to be one of the top goalkeepers in the league during his rookie season in the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL). Waltman leads the league in minutes played and saves, racking up 644 minutes and making 133 saves in 11 games played. The Gig Harbor, Washington native ranks second in the league in wins with six and was voted Goalkeeper-of-the-Month by the league for the month of November. The 24-year-old netminder was also voted Goalkeeper-of-the-Week after the "Yellow and Black" picked up two victories on the east coast against the Baltimore Blast and Philadelphia KiXX during the weekend of November 12-14. Against Baltimore, Waltman made 18 saves on 19 shots faced to preserve a 3-1 victory over the two time defending champs. He then proceeded to make 11 saves on 15 shots faced against Philadelphia, helping the Storm pick up a 7-4 victory and hand the KiXX their first loss of the season.



Major Indoor Soccer League 2 Stories from December 14, 2004


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