Force Duels With Dallas To Victory

Published on March 4, 2003 under Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2)
Cleveland Force News Release


DALLAS, TEXAS – The Cleveland Force traveled to Dallas, Texas to play the Dallas Sidekicks in a Major Indoor Soccer League game at the Reunion Arena. The game tonight was originally scheduled for February 16th but was cancelled due to inclement weather that prevented the Sidekicks from returning to Dallas from Baltimore. The Force defeated the Sidekicks by a final score of 13-8 to snap a two-game losing skid and posted its first road victory since December 14th as the team heads into the All-Star break.

With the win, Cleveland improved to 16-16 overall, won the season series 3-1 and finished the regular season 10-8 versus Western Conference opponents. With the loss, Dallas fell to 7-25 overall and dropped their sixth straight game.

The Force opened the scoring (2-0) when Chris Stathopoulos scored a two-point goal off the pass from Lee Edgerton at 2:27 of the first quarter. Cleveland added to its lead (4-0) when Steve Butcher tallied a restart two-point goal that went off a Sidekicks defender from the cross of Giuliano Oliviero at 8:53.

The two teams battled to a scoreless second quarter.

The Force ended a 23 minutes scoreless drought (6-0) when Stathopoulos scored an unassisted two-point goal at 1:56 of the third quarter. Cleveland kept up the scoring streak (9-0) when defender Nevio Pizzolitto took the outlet pass from goalkeeper Jim Larkin the length of the field to scored a three-point goal. The Force added to their lead (11-0) when Oliviero found the back of the net off the pretty pass from Justin Evans at 10:11. Dallas got on the scoreboard and ended a Cleveland 11-0 run (11-2) when David Doyle scored a two-point goal off the cross from Patrick Shamu at 10:47. The Sidekicks cut into the lead (11-4) when Giampaulo Pedroso off the feed from Doyle at 14:18.

Dallas opened the final quarter scoring (11-6) when Brandon Cavitt found the back of the net off the pass from Shamu just 15 seconds into the fourth quarter. The Force ended a 6-0 run by the Sidekicks (13-6) when Oliviero scored his second goal of the game off the first assist in a Force uniform for Bernie Lilavois at 1:10. Dallas cut the lead to five points (13-8) when Tatu found the back of the net off the assist from Doyle at 10:57.

Cleveland will not play again until after the MISL All-Star break. The Force will return home to face the Philadelphia KiXX on Friday, March 14th at the Convocation Center at Cleveland State University at 7:35 p.m. Catch all the action on WHK 1220 AM in Cleveland and WHKW 1440 AM in Warren or Worldwide on the Internet Home of LIVE Cleveland Force Soccer at www.thesportsking.com.

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Major Indoor Soccer League 2 Stories from March 4, 2003


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