Cougars fall to Storm, 18-10
Published on January 25, 2007 under Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2)
California Cougars News Release
(STOCKTON, CALIF., JANUARY 24, 2007) - Saturday night's meeting marked the fourth time this season that the Cougars and Storm had met. Chicago took the first game in Chicago 15-4 on November 19th and the second on December 23rd 12-2 in Stockton. California won their first road game of the season in Chicago on January 6, 14-12.
This game also marks the return of former Cougars forward John Ball to the arena. Ball was traded on January 4 in exchange for forward Elvir Kafedzic and midfielder Semir Mesanovic.
The Storm got the game off to a quick scoring start as midfielder Mariano Bollella sent an unassisted past Cougars goalkeeper Dominik Jakubek 1:46 into the first quarter.
Cougars midfielder Brian Farber tied up the score with 8:09 remaining in the quarter on an assist by Ryan Hall. Former Cougar John Ball put the Storm up 4-2 on a missed shot off the boards with 1:39 left in the first quarter. Not to be outdone, former Storm midfielder slid in a shot past Chicago goalkeeper Jeff Richey with 9:44 left in the second quarter.
Chicago opened up the offense in the second quarter, starting with midfielder Matt Stewart putting the Storm back on top 6-4 with an assist from defender Fabinho at the 3:54 mark of the second quarter. Forward Awadalla Morad gave the Storm a six point advantage with 2:14 remaining and defender Chris Brisson extended the lead even further just seconds later with a goal with 1:51 left in the half.
Chicago came out of the locker room still hot with Stewart posting his second goal of the night on an assist by Ball just :34 seconds into the third quarter to go up 12-4.
With a two man disadvantage, Bernie Lilavois serving a team penalty for too many men on the field and Brain Farber in the box for tripping, the trio of Matt Caution, Ryan Hall and Nelson Santana were forced to defend against Chicago. But California was unable to hold off the Storm. Stewart scored a hat trick with 4:36 left in the third quarter on an assist from Ball.
California got back into the scoring race when Lilavois took a Farber assist with 3:31 left in the quarter to make it a 14-6 game.
Chicago kept the pressure of in the fourth quarter as Morad scored his second goal of the night on an assist from Stewart just under 4:00 into the quarter to put the Storm up 16-6.
Chicago extended the lead 18-6 with 6:36 remaining in the game on a goal by Ball with an assist from midfielder Andy Rosenband.
California fought back late in the quarter, pulling Jakubek in favor of Aaron Susi at the sixth attacker position. With 2:46 left in the game, forward Elvir Kafedzic's unassisted goal made it 18-8. Forward Enrique Tovar's goal with 1:31 to go in the game closed the game to 18-10 to end the contest.
Next up for the Cougars, a grueling home and away road trip to Milwaukee to take on the Wave. Game one of the back-to-back doubleheader kickoff Friday night at 5:00 pm PST. The team returns to Stockton Arena on Saturday for the second game at 6:00 pm.
Major Indoor Soccer League 2 Stories from January 25, 2007
- Cougars Announce Player Suspensions - California Cougars
- MISL Injury Report - MISL 2
- Cougars fall to Storm, 18-10 - California Cougars
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.
