Power Plays Bite Storm in 19-12 Loss
February 3, 2007 - Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2)
Chicago Storm News Release
MILWAUKEE, WI.- The return of target man Mark Ughy and a hat-trick and an assist from rookie forward Stephen Armstrong was just not enough to get the Chicago Storm a win, as Chicago lost 19-12 to the Milwaukee Wave, Saturday night in Milwaukee.
If it wasn't for power plays, Milwaukee didn't score at all in the first half. Storm midfielder John Ball was called for holding and goalkeeper Jim Larkin received a blue card for a hand ball outside the box. The Wave converted on both penalties, both scored by Todd Dusosky off of assists by Milwaukee's leading point scorer Greg Howes. Down 4-0 at the end of one quarter the Storm regrouped quickly in the second period.
The Storm regrouped in the second quarter on the legs of rookie forward Stephen Armstrong. His first goal of the night came as fellow rookie, defender Chris Brisson streaked down the left hand boards with the ball and sent a long airborne pass to Armstrong. The Birkenhead England native never waited for the ball to hit the ground. He caught the pass in midair and blasted the shot with his weaker, right foot past Wave 'keeper Nick Vorberg.
Two minutes later Armstrong tallied again. Former Storm forward Anthony Maher was called for elbowing Chicago midfielder Mariano Bollella. On the ensuing power play, Armstrong passed the ball in to the goal area to Mark Ughy, who played in his first game back from a knee injury. Ughy gave the ball right back to Armstrong who settled the ball down and let loose a left footer that went into the right hand lower corner to even the game at four a piece. The power play worked to the Wave's advantage again with only a few minutes left in the half. Chicago Goalkeeper Larkin came out of the goal area and blocked a shot with what looked to be his left shoulder but the officials called Larkin's second hand ball outside the area penalty, resulting in a penalty shot. The Wave's Howes took the penalty and made one move to elude back up 'keeper Jeff Richey to put Milwaukee up a goal.
The Storm countered 30 seconds later. Chicago was given a restart after the Wave kicked the ball out of bounds. Midfielder Andy Rosenband took the restart to the left of Vorberg and laid off a beautiful pass to a rushing John Ball who blasted in his first goal of the night, leveling the game at six a piece going into the half.
The power play calls switched teams going into the second half. With less then a minute gone in the third quarter Wave target man Greg Howes was given a penalty for kicking Ughy. For a minute of the extra man advantage Chicago kicked the ball around looking for an opening, before Armstrong found midfielder Matthew Stewart in front of Vorberg. Stewart drew Vorberg to him, eluded the Milwaukee net minder and then used the outside of his right foot to score his 14th goal of the season.
Milwaukee's Michael King evened the game at eight a piece before Stephen Armstrong would complete his hat-trick. At the four minute mark, Milwaukee defender Oral Bullen received a penalty for tripping and Armstrong took a John Ball pass and buried a left footed blast from the top of the goalkeeper area for his second hat-trick of the season and the Storm's third in the last week and a half. Matthew Stewart and forward Awadalla Morad each had one versus the Cougars on the 24th of January. Chicago tool the 10-8 lead all the way up to the final minute of the third quarter before Milwaukee defender Joe Hammes pounced on a ball that Chicago target man Chris Handsor failed to clear. Hammes took the shot from outside the three-point marker and finished it. Then with only 12 seconds left newly acquired Milwaukee defender Chad Dumbrowski put the Wave up 13-10 going into the final quarter.
Milwaukee would score their third unanswered goal off the foot of Macello Fontana before Chicago would get back on the board. With five minutes to go the Storm pulled Larkin for a sixth attacker. On the man advantage, Matthew Stewart shot a ball of the boards to target man Mark Ughy who headed the ball in net for his first goal since missing four weeks due to getting his knee scoped.
That was all the scoring that the Storm could muster. Milwaukee would add a restart goal and an empty net goal to win the game 19-12. The Storm fall to 9- 9 on the season and do not return to Milwaukee again this season. The Wave even up the series with Chicago at two game a piece on the season and 9-9 all- time, as they move to 11-8 on the season. Chicago does not play a league game for two weeks, but takes on the Stars of Mexico in a friendly on Tuesday, February 6th at 7:30 pm at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates.
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Major Indoor Soccer League 2 Stories from February 3, 2007
- California posts highest scoring game on season - California Cougars
- Ignition drops second straight with loss on the road - Detroit Ignition
- Philadelphia defense allows 35 points in two losses to Baltimore - Philadelphia KiXX
- Power Plays Bite Storm in 19-12 Loss - Chicago Storm
- Wave pours it on for fifth straight victory - Milwaukee Wave
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