Steamers Clinch Regular Season Title, Home Field Advantage In Playoffs
March 26, 2006 - Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2)
St. Louis Steamers News Release
The St. Louis Steamers clinched the regular season MISL title and secured home field advantage throughout the playoffs when they defeated the Milwaukee Wave, 7-6, Sunday afternoon at U.S. Cellular Arena. Sunday's victory completed a weekend sweep for the Steamers, who defeated the Wave in a 8-7 overtime thriller on Saturday at Savvis Center.
The Steamers are now 21-5 on the season, while Milwaukee drops to 17-10. The first-place Steamers increased their lead over the second-place Wave to 4½ games.
The Steamers scored the lone goal of the opening quarter, on an unassisted tally by Jamar Beasley, at 10:34.
Beasley put St. Louis up 2-0, off a feed from Genoni Martinez, at 1:13 of the second quarter. Milwaukee answered at 2:22 when Brett Wiesner found the back of the net, assisted by Todd Dusosky. The Steamers increased their lead to two again (3-1) when Mike Apple picked up the rebound of a Shaun David shot and put it past Wave goalkeeper Nick Vorberg at 6:50. St. Louis increased their lead to three (4-1) on a Genoni Martinez penalty kick goal at 8:46. Milwaukee reduced their deficit when Matt Schmidt scored on a restart, assisted by Todd Dusosky, at 10:42, and the first half expired with St. Louis holding a 4-2 lead.
Milwaukee cut St. Louis' lead to one (4-3) when Greg Howes scored on a shootout at 7:13 of the third quarter. The Steamers regained a two-goal lead (5-3) when Beasley completed the hat trick with a power play goal at 9:08. Mariano Bollella earned an assist on Beasley's goal. Milwaukee took their first lead of the game with three goals in two minutes. Marcelo Fontana scored at 9:59, assisted by Eduardo Sebrango to close the gap to 5-4. The Wave drew even (5-5) when Todd Dusosky scored at 11:36, assisted by Howes. Sebrango then scored seconds later (11:59) with an assist from Giuliano Oliviero, for a 6-5 Milwaukee lead. In the final seconds of the third quarter (14:50), Carlos "Chile" Farias took a long shot from behind the yellow line that entered the goal just below the crossbar to knot the score 6-6 as the period ended.
St. Louis regained the lead (7-6) when Mike Apple scored at 6:14 of the final stanza, assisted by Joe Reiniger. The Steamers held on for the rest of the quarter to gain the victory.
The Steamers return home to Savvis Center, where they are undefeated (12-0) to host the Philadelphia Kixx this Thursday, March 30 at 10:35 a.m. Thursday's match is the annual School Day Game, but the early weekday start time also makes it perfect for nearby business people to take an extended lunch hour to take in the game.
Following Thursday's contest, the Steamers journey to Baltimore to tangle with the Blast Friday, March 31 at 6:35 p.m., then come back to Savvis Center to clash with the Wave again Saturday, April 1 at 7:05 p.m. Saturday's game is also Daryl Doran Tribute Night.
The last game of the regular season is slated for Saturday, April 8, when the Steamers host the Chicago Storm at 7:05 p.m. at Savvis Center.
St. Louis, Milwaukee and Baltimore have all secured MISL postseason berths. Chicago, California and Philadelphia are battling for the fourth and final playoff spot. Playoff dates will be announced when the final berth has been decided.
Tickets for all Steamers home games are available at Ticketmaster.com, the Savvis Center Box Office, all Ticketmaster Outlets including the Blue Note Shops, Famous-Barr, The Ice Zone, and select Schnucks stores and via charge-by-phone at 314-241-1888.
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Major Indoor Soccer League 2 Stories from March 26, 2006
- California Cougars' Streak Snapped in Chicago - California Cougars
- KiXX Drop 6-2 Decision in Baltimore - Philadelphia KiXX
- Steamers Clinch Regular Season Title, Home Field Advantage In Playoffs - St. Louis Steamers
- Wave falls to Steamers, 7-6 - Milwaukee Wave
- Wave falls to Steamers 7-6 - Milwaukee Wave
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