Chicago Storm Weekly
April 8, 2008 - Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2)
Chicago Storm News Release
HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. - The Chicago Storm finished their fourth regular season with a 15-15 record. Chicago dropped its 2007-08 regular-season finale, 13-9, to the expansion Orlando Sharks at Amway Arena. John Ball had a three-point goal that gave the Storm a 7-4 lead at the 8:53 mark of the second quarter. But the Sharks scored four of the game's next five goals to pull away. Matthew Stewart, Ian Bennett and Benjamin Chavolla were the other goal scorers for the Storm. Chicago goalkeeper Jeff Richey made 11 saves, while his counterpart, Paul Nagy, saved 14 shots for Orlando.
Next up for the Storm is their Major Indoor Soccer League Championship Series quarterfinal opener against La Raza de Monterrey. The fifth-seeded Storm host fourth-seeded La Raza at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 10, at the Sears Centre Arena. Playoff tickets start at only $16. Call (866) STORM-81 or visit ChicagoStorm.net. Game 2 is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. (CST) Sunday, April 13, at Arena de Monterrey. The quarterfinal and semifinal series are two-match formats. If the two teams split their matches, a "Golden Goal" match takes place immediately following Game 2. The first team to score a goal advances to the next playoff round.
MISL playoff format: The Detroit Ignition and Milwaukee Wave earned the top two seeds, respectively, in the MISL Championship Series. Detroit faces the lower-seeded quarterfinal winner and Milwaukee faces the higher-seeded quarterfinal victor. If the fifth-seeded Storm advance past Monterrey and the third-seeded Blast top the New Jersey Ironmen, Chicago would face Detroit. However, if the Storm reach the semifinals and sixth-seeded New Jersey upsets Baltimore, Chicago takes on Milwaukee in the semifinals.
2007-08 REGULAR-SEASON RECORD (2006-07 CHICAGO STORM RECORD):
Overall Home Road Overtime
15-15 (17-13) 9-6 (8-7) 6-9 (9-6) 0-1 (1-0)
UPCOMING GAMES:
MISL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES - QUARTERFINALS 4/10 Thursday 7 p.m. La Raza de Monterrey Sears Centre Arena
4/13 Sunday 6:05 p.m. La Raza de Monterrey Arena de Monterrey
INJURY REPORT AS OF THURSDAY, APRIL 3, 2008:
Player Injury Status
Stephen Armstrong Ankle Questionable
John Ball Hamstring Probable
Gabriel Cigliano Knee Doubtful
Will Kletzien Knee Out
Andy Rosenband Hamstring Probable
Branko Savic Hip Probable
Points leaders: Carlos "Chile" Farias led the Storm with 62 points and 26 assists during the regular season. He scored 16 goals, including two game-winning goals and four on the power play. Matthew Stewart was second on the Storm with 58 points. Stewart led the team with 23 goals (all two-pointers) and assisted 12 other scores. Mariano Bolella was third with 50 points, ranking second on the team in assists (19) and fourth in goals (15).
La Raza vs. Storm, head-to-head: Monterrey and the Storm split their matches, 2-2, this season. The Storm topped host Monterrey, 16-12, on Nov. 1, 2007, during La Raza's MISL debut, with Stephen Armstrong and Chile Farias each scoring two second-half goals. On Jan. 4, La Raza clipped the Storm, 16-14, at the Sears Centre. Victor Negrete's goal with 50 seconds remaining in regulation gave La Raza the two-point advantage. On Feb. 28, Monterrey scored 13 second-quarter points and defeated the visiting Storm, 24-12. Finally, on March 8, the Storm's Edgar Rivera tallied a two-point goal with 18 seconds remaining as Chicago came from behind to beat La Raza, 11-9, at the Sears Centre.
Storm's La Raza connection: Mariano Bollella and Fabinho won a championship for La Raza when the Mexican-based team was part of the World Indoor Soccer League, and Bollella was the league's most valuable player that 2000 season.
Chicago ties: La Raza forward Byron Alvarez played for the Storm during their 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons. In 45 regular-season games, Alvarez scored 35 points and 25 goals. His 21 goals in 2004-05 ranked second on the Storm. For Monterrey, Alvarez recently had a four-goal, nine-point effort against New Jersey on Thursday. ... Monterrey head coach Erich Geyer made his head coaching debut with the Chicago Sting of the original Major Indoor Soccer League from 1986 to 1988.
Road/home tendencies: The Storm posted a 9-6 record at the Sears Centre this season, bettering last season's eight-win home total. Chicago was 6-9 on the road in the regular season. Monterrey was one of four MISL teams to post 10 or more losses away from home. La Raza went 5-10 on the road and 11-4 on their home field, Arena de Monterrey.
PLAYER MILESTONES:
Player Needs Milestone
Stephen Armstrong 2 points To reach 125 (regular-season career)
John Ball 4 blocks To reach 425 (regular-season career)
John Ball 5 goals To reach 225 (regular-season career)
Chile Farias 2 games To reach 200 (regular-season career)
Jim Larkin 5 wins To reach 100 (regular-season career)
Jeff Richey 1 win To reach 25 (regular-season career)
Randy Soderman 2 games To reach 125 (regular-season career)
Matthew Stewart 4 goals To reach 100 (regular-season career)
Mark Ughy 4 goals To reach 100 (regular-season career)
Major Indoor Soccer League 2 Stories from April 8, 2008
- Chicago Storm Weekly - Chicago Storm
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