Storm defeated by Cleveland 5-4
Published on March 20, 2005 under Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2)
Chicago Storm News Release
Chicago â The Chicago Storm dropped a hard-fought battle to the Cleveland Force by a final of 5-4 tonight at the UIC Pavilion. The "Yellow and Black" fell to 15-16 in the Major Indoor Soccer League to remain in fifth-place, while Cleveland remained in the fourth and final playoff spot with a record of 15-13. Force midfielder/forward and team captain John Ball connected with forward Tamas Weisz for the game-winning goal at the 5:46 mark of the fourth quarter. The Storm will face off against Force one more time this season on April 15 in Cleveland at the Wolstein Convocation Center. The game can be heard live on www.chicagostorm.net.
"I am very sorry for the fans and the game that an incident mars an otherwise entertaining game of soccer," said Storm Head Coach Frank Klopas. "I am very proud of the team and that they played well throughout the game. Even though we were short on defenders, they still worked hard."
In the first quarter, Cleveland registered the first goal of the game at the 11:34 mark after the Force caught the Storm's defense up the field. Ball dumped in a long pass from the right side just past midfield to forward Chris Handsor who was standing on the left side of the box. Handsor gathered the pass and chipped in a shot up over Storm goalkeeper Danny Waltman's head, giving the Force an early 1-0 lead. The Storm answered right back twelve seconds later after midfielder/forward Nino DaSilva laid the ball off to defender Gaston Pernia just behind midfield. The Buenos Aires, Argentina native gathered the ball, passed off the boards to himself, raced up the right side of the field and buried a left footer upper left post past Force goalkeeper Jim Larkin to even the score 1-1.
Cleveland broke the 1-1 tie midway through the second quarter after midfielder/forward Robbie Aristodemo dished off to forward Aaron Susi down in the right corner. Susi gathered the pass and rifled a shot past from the lower right corner past Waltman, making the score 2-1. The "Yellow and Black" came right back with a goal of their own at the 9:37 mark after midfielder Matthew Stewart controlled the ball down in the left corner and flipped a pass across the box to DaSilva. The Hoffman Estates, Illinois resident gathered the pass in stride and blasted a shot from the right wing past Larkin, tying up the score 2-2. The Storm took a 3-2 lead with only fifty-three seconds left in the half after midfielder Andy Guastaferro dished off to Novi on the right side. The Indian Head Park, Illinois resident dribbled up and fired a shot past Larkin, bagging his 23 goal of the season. The Force came right back to tie the game up at the 9:42 mark of the third stanza. Storm midfielder Lazo Alavanja blasted a shot that was blocked by a Force defender and cleared to midfield were Ball controlled the deflection, dribbled up the field and rifled a shot past Waltman for his second goal of the game.
After the goal, Ball ran past the Storm bench and made comments. He then bumped Klopas and a melee ensued as both teams' benches cleared. After order was restored by the referee crew, three Storm players (defenders Gaston Pernia, Leo Pernia and Fred DeGand) and two Force (Joel Bailey, Aaron Susi) players were ejected. Force goalkeeper Jim Larkin was ejected, but the red card was rescinded. Storm captain Ted Chronopoulos was issued a yellow card as well.
After play resumed, the Storm took a 4-3 lead after Novi bagged his second goal of the game off a restart goal from the left wing at the 11:01 mark. Cleveland managed to tie the game up at 4-4 after Genoni Martinez connect with Handsor who blasted a shot past Waltman for his second goal of the game.
In the final stanza, the Force broke the 4-4 tie at the 5:46 mark after Ball passed across the box from the left side, finding forward Tamas Weisz in the lower right corner. Weisz gathered the pass and rifled a shot upper post past Waltman. The "Yellow and Black" brought on Novi as the sixth attacker at the 2:46 mark, but was unable to capitalize on some last minute opportunities.
The Storm will return to Chicago on Sunday, April 3 to face the St. Louis Steamers at 6:00 p.m. CT at the UIC Pavilion. The game will be televised live on Comcast SportsNet and can also be heard live on www.chicagostorm.net in English and on Univision Radio WRTO 1200 AM in Spanish.
Major Indoor Soccer League 2 Stories from March 20, 2005
- Force streaks past Comets into third place, 7-5 - Cleveland Force
- Wave defeats Steamers, 6-4 - Milwaukee Wave
- Storm defeated by Cleveland 5-4 - Chicago Storm
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