Force Makes Official Return to Cleveland by Knocking off Blast

October 12, 2002 - Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2)
Cleveland Force News Release


CLEVELAND, OHIO. - The Cleveland Force made its official return to Cleveland tonight with a 10-9 victory over the visiting Baltimore Blast at the Convocation Center at Cleveland State University.

With the win, the Force improved to 1-1 overall and 1-1 in the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) Eastern Conference. The win also marked the first win for the Force in downtown Cleveland as well as their first win at the Convo. With the loss, the Blast fell to 1-1 overall and 1-1 in the Eastern Conference.

Cleveland opened the scoring (2-0) when defender Kiley Couch scored the first points for the Force in downtown as he stole the ball from Blast goalie Scott Hileman at the 8:49 mark.

Baltimore tied the game (2-2) when Gino DiFlorio scored the open net goal after Lee Tschantret and Force goalie Jim Larkin fought for the ball in the corner with Tschantret knocking past Larkin to DiFlorio for the assist at 7:20 of the second quarter. The Blast took their first lead of the game (4-2) when Denison Cabral scored the unassisted two-pointy goal at the 9:45 mark of the first half.

Cleveland opened up the second half scoring and tied the game (4-4) when Hector Marinaro scored the two-point goal from the cross from Chris Stathopoulos with just 29 seconds gone in the third quarter. With the goal, Marinaro has now safely scored in 44 straight games. Baltimore regained the lead (7-4) when P.J. Wakefield scored the three-point goal at the 3:18 mark. The Force responded (7-6) when defender Nevio Pizzolitto found the top right corner off the pass from Stathopoulos at the 5:31 mark.

Cleveland regained the lead for good (8-7) when John Ball beat Tschantret down the field and was left one on one with Hileman to scored the two-point goal at the 5:41 mark of the fourth quarter. The Force added a much-needed insurance goal when Marinaro scored his second two-point goal of the game off the third assist of the game from Stathopoulos at the 8:13 mark. The Blast cut the lead to 10-9 when Cabral found the back of the net off the cross from Paul Wright at the 10:50 mark.

The Tops Sensational Player of the Game went to Force goalie Jim Larkin who recorded his first win of the season as well as 17 saves.

Cleveland will travel to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania tonight to face the defending MISL Champion Philadelphia KiXX on Sunday, October 13th at 5:05 p.m. The game can be heard live on WHK 1220 am in Cleveland and 1440 WHKW AM in Warren.



Major Indoor Soccer League 2 Stories from October 12, 2002


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