Cop Nets Winner As Chicago Riot Tops Blast, 11-9, In OT
March 4, 2011 - Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL)
Chicago Riot News Release
BALTIMORE, MD - For the second time this season, the Chicago Riot's Ante Cop scored a game-winning goal against the Baltimore Blast as Chicago earned an 11-9 overtime victory Friday in Major Indoor Soccer League action at 1st Mariner Arena.
The Riot (5-14) ended a four-game losing streak and became the only team in the league to defeat Baltimore (14-4) twice this season. Chicago's win also prevented the Blast from clinching the MISL regular-season crown and ended Baltimore's eight-game winning streak.
"It's about time for these guys. We've come up many times on the short end of close games, and they never stopped fighting, especially for the city of Chicago," Riot Head Coach Jeff Kraft said. "We've been through a lot, but they know what it's all about. It was a good win all around, and the guys stepped up offensively and defensively."
Cop tallied the game-winner at the 2:11 mark of overtime with a quick turn in the box as Blast goalkeeper Sagu could not come out in time to prevent the attack. Cop has scored three goals this season. Cop's other game-winner was when he was in a goalkeeper/sixth attacker role, netting a three-pointer with 23 seconds remaining to beat Baltimore, 14-12, on Jan. 16 at the Odeum Sports and Expo Center in Villa Park, Ill.
Also noteworthy Friday was Riot goalkeeper Jeff Richey, who kept Chicago in the match with a game-high 19 saves. His counterpart, Sagu, made only four saves. On the scoring side, Blast defender Pat Morris had a hat trick to lead Baltimore. For Chicago, Alex Megson scored two goals, Novica "Novi" Marojevic netted his league-leading fifth three-pointer and Brandon Corday tallied his first goal of the season.
Next up for the Riot is the team's final game of the 2010-2011 season against the Missouri Comets at 3:10 p.m. Sunday, March 6, at the Independence Events Center in Independence, Mo.
On Friday, the Blast tallied the first strike at the 3:02 mark of the first quarter with Morris' goal in the box to take a 2-0 lead. Adauto Neto had the assist from the left side as Morris fought through the Riot defense and struck the ball past Richey's glove near the left-side post.
Baltimore maintained the bulk of possession in the first quarter, and as the final second ticked off the clock at the 15:00 mark, Morris notched his second goal of the quarter with a deep two-pointer near the top of the key to give the Blast a 4-0 lead.
Despite Baltimore's heavy possession, the Riot cashed in on a Blast mistake on the defensive end with a Novi three-pointer at the 1:08 mark of the second quarter to cut Baltimore's lead to 4-3. Sagu moved well out of the box to his left side, but the ball bounced beyond the three-point arc. Novi converged with a bouncing strike that found the back of the net.
Novi leads the Riot with five three-point goals, which also ties for the league lead with former Omaha Vipers forward Carlos "Chile" Farias.
The Blast responded at the 9:28 mark with a Matt Watson goal for a 6-3 lead. Machel Millwood assisted from the left side, Watson made a strong cut to the right past Novi and had plenty of shooting room toward the right side of the goal.
But the teams continued trading goals as the Riot immediately responded with Megson's goal at the 9:59 mark to cut Baltimore's lead to 6-5. Bato Radoncic assisted from the right side and got the ball to Megson who cut into the box and shot toward the upper right corner of the goal.
The Blast pushed its lead to 9-5 in the third quarter with Morris' third goal of the game, a three-pointer, at the 5:18 mark.
Chicago kept things close with Megson's second goal of the game at the 58-second mark of the fourth quarter to cut the Blast's lead to 9-7. Baltimore's Giuliano Celenza was looking to head the ball back to Sagu, but Megson stepped in between and capitalized on the scoring chance.
The Riot tied the score at 9-9 at the 10:30 mark of the fourth with Corday's first goal of the season. Fred Degand did the bulk of the work in the right corner as he spun baseline and drove the ball between Sagu's legs and right to Corday who had to tap in the ball for the goal.
For the second straight game, the Riot and Blast had to play an overtime match. Baltimore edged Chicago, 16-13, on Feb. 27 at the Odeum. But on Friday, Chicago returned the favor as Cop tallied the winner, with Miodrag "Miki" Djerisilo assisting, at the 2:11 mark.
The Riot earned its first overtime win of the season and is 1-2 in extra-time games.
• Discuss this story on the Major Indoor Soccer League message board...
Major Indoor Soccer League Stories from March 4, 2011
- Milwaukee Holds Omaha Scoreless for Fifth Shutout in Wave History - Milwaukee Wave
- Cop Nets Winner As Chicago Riot Tops Blast, 11-9, In OT - Chicago Riot
- MISL Adds New Team for 2011-12 Season - MISL
- Super Bowl Champions Bishop, Bulaga, and Finley to Appear at Wave Game - Milwaukee Wave
- Indoor Soccer Returns to Wichita at Hartman Arena - Wichita Wings
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
