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Storm Holds KiXX to One Goal in 6-2 Win

January 27, 2007 - Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2)
Chicago Storm News Release


PHILADELPHIA - In the third road game in four days, the Chicago Storm put on their best defensive effort. The team blocked 14 shots on goal, including team captain Gaston Pernia's (pictured above) new club record seven blocks and goalkeeper Jim Larkin saved 25 of 26 shots on goal to preserve a 6-2 win over the first place Philadelphia KiXX. The Storm beat California on Wednesday night and lost to Baltimore on Friday, finishing the week off with a 2-1 record and moving to 9-8 on the season. Philadelphia falls to 9-5.

Chicago kicked off the scoring with only a few minutes left in the opening quarter. Midfielder David Castellanos got beat by Brazilian defender Fabinho and chose to take the holding penalty rather than give up a free shot on goal. On the ensuing power play, Storm midfielder Matthew Stewart sent a pass of the ball to target man Chris Handsor who directed the ball into the net for the first goal of the night and his second goal in as many days.

In the opening minutes of the second quarter Philadelphia responded on a goal by defender Pat Morris but once again Chicago would take advantage of a power play. Former Storm midfielder Sandre Naumoski received a two minute penalty for tripping, then an additional five minutes for dissent as he argued the call to the officials. On the odd man advantage, midfielder Mariano Bollella sent the ball to his right where rookie Stephen Armstrong received the pass. Armstrong eluded two defenders before ripping off a high shot into the far corner of the net to put the Storm back on top 4-2. With that goal Armstrong has now scored at least one goal in all four games versus the KiXX this season.

The second half belonged to Storm goalkeeper Jim Larkin and the defense. Larkin saved seven shots in the third and fourth quarters and the defense blocked nine shots on goal, four by team captain Gaston Pernia, to stone the KiXX. The effort could be best summed up by Chicago defender Sinisa Alebic's throwing his body in front of a Dino Dilevski blast. The 6'5" Alebic wound up taking the shot off of his face but the big Croatian walked off the field under his own power and to the applause of his teammates.

The Storm sealed the win in the final quarter. Fabinho stripped the ball off of Philadelphia's Dilevski and sent a long pass to forward Awadalla Morad. The Speedy Palestinian turned on the jets and ripped a right footed shot into the lower right hand corner of the goal, beating Philadelphia goalkeeper Peter Pappas for his fourth goal of the week, giving Chicago a 6-2 lead, and eventually the win.

This game marked the fourth game of a six game road stretch for the Storm. The team now sits at 2-2 on that stretch. Chicago gets a week off before they renew their border war with the Wave Saturday, February 3rd in Milwaukee. In his post game press conference, head coach Steve Morris was pleased with the teams' effort. "It goes all the way from the front to the back and our goalkeeper (Jim Larkin). We had great performances by everyone. We managed to weather the Storm when we had to and we had three good goals, scoring when the opportunity presented itself. We took advantage of the power play when we had one. From top to bottom I thought we blocked and tackled when we needed to and considering this was the third game in four days, the team showed outstanding character."



Major Indoor Soccer League 2 Stories from January 27, 2007


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