Chicago Storm selects 16 players in expansion draft
June 23, 2004 - Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2)
Chicago Storm News Release
Chicago, IL (Wednesday, June 23, 2004) â The Chicago Storm selected 16 players in the Major Indoor Soccer League's (MISL) Chicago Expansion Draft on Wednesday afternoon. The Storm acquired the rights to players representing eight of the league's nine pre-existing teams. The Storm selected one goalkeeper, seven midfielders, six defenders, and two forwards in the draft.
Cleveland Force and MISL's all-time leading scorer Hector Marinaro and Milwaukee Wave goalkeeper Dan Green headline Chicago's list of selections. Baltimore Blast defender Ibrahim Kante was the first player chosen by the "Yellow and Black."
Marinaro, professional indoor soccer's all-time leading scorer, is a six-time Most Valuable Player, a 16-time All-Star, and a 19-year veteran of indoor soccer. A member of the Cleveland franchise since the 1989-90 season, the 39-year-old Marinaro has scored 1,223 goals (2,787 total points), playing forward for much of his career, though he has split time as a defender in recent seasons.
Green, a goalkeeper who began his professional indoor career in 1996, emerged as the Milwaukee Wave's starter last season. The 32-year-old native of Waukesha, WI, led all MISL goalkeepers with his 18-3 record and 4.02 goals against average.
Kante, a 6-foot-3, 215-pound, 22-year-old defender from Mali, Africa, played in five games last season for the MISL Champion Baltimore Blast.
The Storm poached midfielder Ryan Futagaki from Milwaukee with the 15th selection in the draft. The UCLA product becomes the first player on both the Chicago Fire and the Storm.
Seven midfielders, six defenders, two forwards, and one goalkeeper were selected. Franchises in Philadelphia, Milwaukee and Kansas City each lost three players. Dallas and Baltimore each lost two. St. Louis, San Diego, and Cleveland each lost one player. Monterrey did not have any players selected.
On June 10, MISL franchises submitted Designation Lists specifying the 11 players (maximum of one goalkeeper) that each club wished to "protect" in Wednesday's Draft. Undesignated players, and players not chosen in the 2004 MISL Amateur Draft, were eligible for selection by Chicago. Current MISL teams could lose a maximum of three players during the Expansion Draft. Once a player was selected from an existing team, that team was permitted to return one unprotected player to its protected Designation List. The Storm was allowed 16 selections.
Chicago Expansion Draft Selections
Rd. Player Pos. Team DOB Ht. Wt. Hometown
1 Ibrahim Kante D Baltimore 7/20/81 6'3" 215 Bamako, Mali
2 Sandre Naumoski M Kansas City 7/7/79 5'8" 160 Skopje, Macedonia
3 Andy Gustaferro M Philadelphia 11/24/77 5'10" 175 Canandaigua, New York
4 Mark Rowland F Dallas 4/17/78 5'7" 160 El Paso, Texas
5 Jose Alvarado D Dallas 4/19/72 5'9" 143 Mexico City, Mexico
6 Fernando Errecalde M St. Louis 2/18/75 5'6" 135 Tandil, Argentina
7 Kevin Sakuda D San Diego 6/19/80 6'1" 175 Fremont, California
8 Dan Green GK Milwaukee 4/24/72 6'1" 205 Waukesha, Wisconsin
9 Dewan Bader D Baltimore 4/8/71 5'10" 160 Washington, D.C.
10 Phil Presser D Kansas City 6/29/81 5'10" 160 Ft. Wayne, Indiana
11 Matthew Stewart M Milwaukee 9/17/76 5'8" 175 El Paso, Texas
12 Craig Scheer M Kansas City 2/29/76 6'0" 170 Cape Girardeau, Missouri
13 Mauricio Vincello D Philadelphia 8/19/77 5'9" 170 Salto, Argentina
14 Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar M Philadelphia 4/6/77 5'11" 162 Santa Barbara, California
15 Ryan Futagaki M Milwaukee 1/17/80 5'7" 150 Fountain Valley, California
16 Hector Marinaro D/F Cleveland 12/6/64 5'9" 155 Toronto, Canada
Formed on June 3, 2004, the Chicago Storm becomes the 10th team in the MISL, joining the two-time defending champion Baltimore Blast, Cleveland Force, Dallas Sidekicks, Kansas City Comets, Milwaukee Wave, Monterrey Fury (Mexico), Philadelphia Kixx, St. Louis Steamers and San Diego Sockers. Storm home games will be played at The Pavilion in Chicago. The Storm front office is located at 411 South Sangamon, Suite B in Chicago. For more information on the Storm, please call (312) 226-GOAL (4625) or log on to www.ChicagoStorm.net.
Chicago Storm Expansion Draft Quote Sheet
Chicago Storm Head Coach and General Manager Frank Klopas
General Overview of the Expansion Draft: "We did a lot of work and tried to select the best 16 players out there. We feel we did that and this is a good start for us. There is a lot to do ahead, but this is the start. It has been a great beginning. We did a good job of selecting young players, with a couple of older players. This is the first step. But this is just a start. There are many more players to look at. I'm excited about this group and we'll just go from here."
On selecting goalkeeper Dan Green from Milwaukee: There was an opportunity in the goalkeeping situation to select a guy who is experienced and been there for many years. You can not teach experience and we just could not pass that up. We had an opportunity to take Dan and we had to do it. He is someone who is a great goalkeeper and has played in big games. It is hard to protect everyone, so we did our homework to select the right players. We are excited about our first step here.
On the final selection of the draft, Cleveland forward and all-time leading MISL scorer Hector Marinaro: I was a little bit surprised that he was there. He is a legend of the game and he has been there for so many years. People may be surprised, but we feel he can help the younger players and be someone who can play a big role on a new team. You can not teach that kind of experience and he is a valuable player.
On the acquisition of midfielder Hugo Alcarez-Cuellar from Philadelphia: Hugo is an exciting player with the Portland Timbers (A-League) and he is someone who we did research on and decided we should bring him in. We realized Philadelphia had his rights, but he has not played there. Once we had the opportunity to draft him, we could not pass it up because we feel he can be a special player.
On selecting former Chicago Fire midfielder Ryan Futagaki: Ryan Futagaki is a midfielder who was with the Fire and Milwaukee had his rights, so we thought it would be a good move to bring him back to Chicago. He is solid and quick, so we think he will do well here.
On selecting only two forwards in the draft, Dallas' Mark Rowland and Marinaro: We were trying to select the best players available in the draft. We are not too concerned with the forward situation, since we have others coming in.
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Major Indoor Soccer League 2 Stories from June 23, 2004
- Chicago Storm selects 16 in expansion draft - MISL 2
- Chicago Storm selects 16 players in expansion draft - Chicago Storm
- Wave Loses Two Players to Chicago in MISL Expansion Draft - Milwaukee Wave
- Blast loses two players in expansion draft - Baltimore Blast
- Chicago takes Sakuda in expansion draft - San Diego Sockers
- Three KiXX members acquired by Chicago Storm - Philadelphia KiXX
- Force forward/defender selected in draft - Cleveland Force
- Draft day is here for the Storm - Chicago Storm
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