Force Falls in Second Game of the Weekend

Published on October 13, 2002 under Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2)
Cleveland Force News Release


PHILADELPHIA, PA. -- The Cleveland Force traveled to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and fell in the second game of a back-to-back weekend series to the defending Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) Champion Philadelphia KiXX, 13-5, tonight in the First Union Spectrum. Cleveland defeated Baltimore 10-9 on Saturday night in Cleveland and then had a bus trip to Philadelphia right after the game.

With the loss, the Force fell to 1-2 overall and 1-2 in the MISL Eastern Conference. With the win the KiXX took over sole possession of first place in the MISL Eastern Conference with a 2-1 overall record and a 2-0 record in the Eastern Conference.

Philadelphia opened the scoring (2-0) when Joel Shanker scored the two-point goal off the pass from Pat Morris at the two-minute mark of the first quarter. Cleveland took its first lead of the game (3-0) when Hector Marinaro scored the three-point goal after he stole the ball and hit the shot from midfield lobbing it over the KiXX goalkeeper Peter Pappas. The three-point goal marked the 45 straight game Marinaro has scored at least a point in a game and it also marked the first three-point goal of the season for the Force.

Philadelphia opened the second quarter scoring and regained the lead (4-3) when Shanker hit the bicycle kick for the two-point goal off the pass from Matt Knowles.

The KiXX opened the second half and third quarter scoring (6-3) when Don D'Ambra scored the two-point goal off the feed from Gary DePalma at the 3:48 mark of the quarter. Philadelphia extended its lead (8-3) when D'Ambra tallied his second goal of the game off the cross from Les Lunsford at 11:07.

The KiXX added to its lead (11-3) when Shanker recorded the hat trick when he netted the three-point goal with the assist going to Drew Kopp at the 4:27 mark of the final quarter. Philadelphia continued it's scoring led (13-3) when Lunsford beat Bill Sedgewick to score the two-point goal. The Force snapped an 11-0 run by the KiXX (13-5) when Steve Butcher scored the power play goal off the pass from Giuliano Oliviero at the 14:01 mark.

The Tops Sensational Player of the Game went to Hector Marinaro.

Cleveland will next play host to the San Diego Sockers on Friday, October 18th at the Convocation Center at Cleveland State University with game time scheduled for 7:35 p.m. This will mark the first trip to Cleveland for the Sockers since 1988 when the Force and Sockers faced off in the MISL Championship series with San Diego taking that series four games to none. The game can be heard live on WHK 1220 AM in Cleveland and WHKW 1440 AM in Warren or worldwide on the Internet at www.thesportsking.com.

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Major Indoor Soccer League 2 Stories from October 13, 2002


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