Force to continue winning streak with back-to-back contests

March 15, 2005 - Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2)
Cleveland Force News Release


CLEVELAND, OHIO - The Cleveland Force will look to extend their winning streak to season-high four and five games this weekend when the team will play its fifth of nine home and road back-to-back weekend contests. The team will first hit the road to take on the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) expansion Chicago Storm on Saturday, March 19 at the University of Illinois-Chicago Pavilion. Cleveland will then return home to take on the Kansas City Comets on Sunday, March 20 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 8:00 and Sunday's contest will start at 3:05 and is a full team post game on the field autograph session sponsored by Pepsi.

The Force enters the weekend riding a season-high tying three-game winning streak and with a record of 14-13 overall, 9-6 at home and 5-7 on the road. Cleveland posted two victories last weekend over the Baltimore Blast on Friday night (7-5) and the Storm on Sunday (10-6). The Force is in the fourth and final playoff spot one game behind the Philadelphia KiXX and St. Louis Steamers who are tied for second and trails the Milwaukee Wave by 3.5 games for first place.

The Storm enters the game with a record of 15-15 overall, 11-5 at home and 4-10 on the road. Chicago split a pair of games last weekend by defeating the Comets on Saturday night at home by a final score of 7-4 but then fell to the Force on Sunday. The Storm currently sits in fifth place in the MISL standings a half game behind Cleveland and 1.5 games ahead of the Blast in sixth place.

The game between Cleveland and Chicago will mark the sixth of seven meetings this season between the two squads as well as the final meeting at the UIC-Pavilion. The contest will mark the 52nd meeting between the two squads with the Force holding a 32-18 advantage. Cleveland leads the season series 3-2 as the home team has won each meeting.

In the season series with the Chicago, the Force is led by Ball with 12 points on nine goals and three assists. Ball has recorded two hat tricks versus the Storm, including one in last Sunday's showdown. Forward Chris Handsor and defender Rene Rivas are tied for second on the team with seven points apiece. Handsor has notched six goals, including two in the last meeting and one assist while Rivas, who missed the last meeting with a knee injury, has tallied three goals and four assists.

The Storm is led by midfielder Matthew Stewart and forward Bryon Alvarez with six points one five goals and one assist each. Forward Novica "Novi" Marojevic with five points on two goals and three assists.

The game between the Force and the Comets will mark the fifth of six meetings this season between the two squads as well as the final meeting at the Wolstein Center. The contest will mark the 80th meeting between the two squads with Kansas City holding a 41-38 advantage. The season series is tied at 2-2 as the two teams split a back-to-back series on February 11 and 12. The Comets defeated Cleveland 8-3 at the Wolstein Center but the Force returned the favor with a 6-5 overtime victory at Kemper Arena the next night.

Kansas City comes into the game on a five game losing streak and with a record of 11-17 overall, 5-7 at home and 6-9 on the road. The Comets dropped two games last weekend to the Chicago on Saturday and then fell to the Wave on Sunday by a final score of 10-3 at U.S. Cellular Arena.

In the season series with the Comets, Cleveland is lead by Handsor and Rivas are tied for second on the team with six points apiece. Handsor has notched five goals and one assist while Rivas has been credited with two goals and four assists. Midfielder Gary DePalma is second on the team with five points on three goals and two assists.

Kansas City is led by forwards Jamar Beasley, Dino Delevski, James Kohler and midfielder Armando Valdivia in the season series all with four points. Beasley, Delevski and Kohler have all notched four goals while Valdivia has tallied one goal and three assists. Three players are tied for second with three points.



Major Indoor Soccer League 2 Stories from March 15, 2005


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