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Force prepared for challenging weekend

February 17, 2005 - Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2)
Cleveland Force News Release


CLEVELAND, OHIO - The Cleveland Force will play its third of nine home and road back-to-back weekend contests this weekend when the team will take on the two-time defending Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) Champion Baltimore Blasts on Saturday, February 19, on the road at 1st Mariner Arena. The Force will then play at home on Sunday against the MISL leading Philadelphia KiXX at the Wolstein Convocation Center.

Both games can be heard live on WHK 1420 AM or 1440 AM in Warren/Youngstown or live worldwide on the Internet at www.thesportsking.com. Saturday's game is scheduled to begin at 7:35 and Sunday's contest will start at 3:05.

Cleveland enters the contests with a record of 9-12 overall, 5-6 at home and 4-6 on the road. The Force split a pair of games last weekend with the Kansas City Comets. Cleveland fell to the Comets by a final score of 8-3 on Friday night at the Wolstein Center but came back to post a 6-5 overtime victory on Saturday at Kemper Arena. The Force currently is tied with Kansas City for seventh place in the MISL standings 5.0 games behind the Philadelphia KIXX in first place, a half game behind the Blast for fifth and one game behind the Chicago Storm for the fourth and final playoff spot.

Baltimore comes into the weekend with a record of 11-13 overall, 8-5 at home and 3-8 on the road. The Blast has currently loss two in a row by dropping games to the KiXX on Saturday night by a final of 4-3 and then fell to the Milwaukee Wave 7-2 on Sunday. Baltimore will play the Comets on Friday night at 1st Mariner Arena before hosting Cleveland on Saturday.

The game between the Force and the Blast will mark the fourth of eight meetings this season between the two squads as well as the second of four meetings at 1st Mariner Arena. The contest will mark the 133rd meeting between the two squads with Baltimore holding a 69-63 advantage. The Blast leads the series season 3-0 after positing two victories at the Wolstein Convocation Center on December 4 and on January 16 and one at the 1st Mariner Arena on January 29.

Cleveland has dropped 10 consecutive games, including the playoffs to the Baltimore and seven straight games at the 1st Mariner Arena. The last time Force posted a victory over the Blast was on March 16, 2003 by a final score of 4-2 (multi-point scoring) and the last time Cleveland won at the 1st Mariner Arena was on April 13, 2002 when the Crunch defeated Baltimore by a final score of 14-12 (multi-point scoring).

In the season series with the Blast, the Force is led by defender and team captain John Ball with five points on two goals and three assists. Forward Adauto Neto, who is on the injured reserve list, is second in the series with four points on one goal and three assists in two games. Forwards Joel Bailey and Antonio Sutton are tied for third with three points apiece.

Baltimore is led by forward Carlos "Chile" Farias with 10 points in the three games on four goals and six assists. Forwards David Bascome and Giuliano Celenza are tied for second in the series with seven points apiece. Bascome has notched four goals and three assists while Celenza has tallied six goals and one assist.

The game between the Force and the KiXX will mark the sixth of eighth meetings this season between the two squads as well as the fourth and final meeting at the Wolstein Center. The contest will mark the 66th meeting between the two squads with Philadelphia holding a 42-23 advantage. The KiXX leads the season series 3-2 after posting victories on February 5th (7-6 2-OT), January 9th (6-5 OT) and October 23 (11-8). Cleveland posted victories on November 26 (6-3) and December 11 (6-5).

Philadelphia enters the weekend with a 16-9 overall, 9-5 at home and 6-4 on the road. The KiXX had their four game winning streak snapped by Milwaukee on Wednesday morning during their annual School Day Game by a final score of 6-2. Philadelphia leads the St. Louis Steamers by one game for first in the MISL Standing and is two games ahead of the Wave in third place.

In the series with the KiXX, Cleveland is led by forward Sipho Sibiya with seven points in five games on six goals and one assist. Ball is second in the series with six points on one goal and five assists. Midfielder Gary DePalma, forward Chris Handsor and forward Adauto Neto are all tied for third with five points.

The KiXX is led by two players tied with eight points in the season series defender Pat Morris in the has recorded six goals and two assists in four games while midfielder Goran Vasic has notched three goals and five assists in five games. Rookie forward John Barry Nusum is second on the team with seven points on three goals and four assists in four games.

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