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MISL Names Players of the Week

March 20, 2006 - Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2) News Release


GOALKEEPER OF THE WEEK

Bayard Elfvin, St. Louis Steamers

Bayard Elfvin turned in yet another spectacular performance in goal this weekend, stopping 15 of 17 shots as the MISL-leading St. Louis Steamers completed a weekend sweep on the road, defeating the Chicago Storm at UIC Pavilion, 4-2 on Sunday afternoon. Elfvin, a second-year player, who receives the occasional spot start to spell veteran MISL All-Star Brett Phillips, improved to 3-1 overall with key overall goalkeeper statistics that would lead the MISL were he to have played the necessary amount of minutes this season. Despite playing behind the All-Star Phillips, who turned another one of his more remarkable performances of the season on Saturday in Philadelphia, Elfvin earned his season's third victory, and improved his save percentage to 82.2, and his goals against average to 2.72. The 25-year-old has played only 198:28 minutes this season, his second in the MISL, but has stopped 41 of 50 shots in seven overall appearances, and has improved his career record to 6-3. In 2004-05, the Cleveland Heights, Ohio native and Ashland University graduate played six games with the Cleveland Force and went 3-2 in a reserve role, playing in six games and stopping 63 of 93 shots and earned a 6.06 goals against average. Elfvin highlighted Sunday's performance with a season-high 15 saves. He also had a shutout until the third quarter, and stopped five of six shots on goal in the fourth quarter as the Storm attempted to mount a late rally at their home building, where they'd gone 7-3 to start the season. St. Louis improves to 19-5 with a two-game series between the MISL's top-two teams - the Steamers and the Milwaukee Wave (17-8) scheduled for next weekend. This is Elfvin's second MISL Goalkeeper of the Week award of the season (Mar. 20, Dec. 12).

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Matt Schmidt, Milwaukee Wave

Matt Schmidt teamed with MISL All-Star goalkeeper Nick Vorberg, fellow MISL All-Star defender Troy Dusosky, and a number of other Wave defensive standouts to support a Marcelo Fontana- and Michael King-led offensive as Milwaukee earned a weekend sweep of Chicago and Philadelphia before its fans at U.S. Cellular Arena on Friday and Sunday, tightening its grasp on second place in the MISL standings. Schmidt & co. held both the Chicago Storm (10-5, Friday) and the Philadelphia KiXX (6-1, Sunday) below the Wave's season-long goals against average of 5.2, which ranks second only to St. Louis. Schmidt, the MISL's leader in blocks added five more over the weekend to increase his impressive total to 38. In addition, Schmidt's contributions were not limited to the defensive end. In the two games Schmidt added two goals and two assists, including a three-point night (two goals, one assist) against Chicago on Friday, to pace all Milwaukee defenders. A 26-year-old Milwaukee native, Schmidt is in his fifth season with the Wave. Previously he first attended Yale University where he started on the varsity soccer team for four years. He was the 33rd pick in the 2000 Amateur Draft, and made his Wave debut on Nov. 23, 2001. In 2004-05 Schmidt set career highs in goals (12), assists (11) and blocks (44) as Milwaukee won the MISL Regular Season and MISL Championship Series titles. This season, Schmidt, could still eclipse those career numbers, having already tied his previous high with 12 goals, while adding six assists, 38 blocks, and one game winning goal through 25 games. The former Marquette University High School standout was named the MISL Defensive Player of the Month in December and earns the MISL Defensive Player of the Week award for the second time this season (Mar. 20, Dec. 12).

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Vicente Figueroa, California Cougars

Vicente Figueroa and his California Cougars teammates continue an extended surge that has allowed the MISL expansion club to win four consecutive games and seven of its last nine to move into legitimate contention for the fourth and final position in the MISL Championship Series which commences in mid-April. Figueroa, the MISL's most productive offensive newcomer this season, earns his first MISL Offensive Player of the Week honor after scoring a season-high four goals in California's only game over the weekend, an 8-6 defeat of the Baltimore Blast at Stockton Arena on Saturday night. Figueroa, who scored the first goal of the game, added three second half goals to key a six-goal second-half for California to earn its first win over the Blast in five tries. With the victory, the fifth-place Cougars have now defeated each MISL opponent over the past four weeks, and are within two games of Chicago for that postseason berth. Raised in San Jose, Calif., Figueroa leads the Cougars with 23 goals (four assists) this season and is second on the team with 27 points. Nicknamed "El Tigre," Figueroa continues to climb up the MISL statistical leader boards as well, where he now ranks ninth in the MISL in points (27), is tied for fifth in goals (23), and leads the MISL in sixth attacker goals (three). Included in Saturday's scoring purge, was Figueroa's first MISL game winning goal which came when he collected a ball off the boards from teammate Aaron Susi and scored at 7:14 of the fourth quarter on a power play. Figueroa also scored the first penalty kick goal on Saturday, beating Baltimore goalkeeper Sagu at 9:09 of the third quarter. Figueroa, who has only played in 22 of 26 games for the Cougars (8-18), has scored goals in 16 of his 22 games, and in each of his last six. Before coming to the Cougars, the 28-year-old forward played indoor soccer with the Premier Arena Soccer League (PASL) club in Santa Clara, Calif. Before that, Figueroa played three seasons in Major League Soccer (1998-2000) with San Jose and Kansas City, winning an MLS Cup with the Kansas City Wizards in 2000.

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