Storm to tangle with Philadelphia tonight

December 17, 2004 - Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2)
Chicago Storm News Release


Chicago (Friday, December 17, 2004) – After suffering a tough 9-5 loss last Sunday afternoon against Philadelphia (6-5), the Chicago Storm (6-6) will look to steal one back from the Eastern Division-leading KiXX on Friday, December 17 at 7:30 p.m. CT at the UIC Pavilion. The game can be heard live on Univision Radio WRTO 1200 AM in Spanish and on www.chicagostorm.net in English. The teams have split two games so far this season and former Philadelphia and now Storm midfielder Andy Guastaferro has recorded two goals and two assists against his former teammates. The "Yellow and Black" will then travel to Kansas City on Saturday to take on the Western Division-leading Comets for the first time this season at 1:05 p.m. CT at Kemper Arena. This game can be heard live on www.chicagostorm.net with Storm play-by-play announcer Kenn Tomasch calling all of the action.

The Chicago Storm will be teaming up with the Greater Chicago Food Depository for tonight's game. Fans who bring in non-perishable food items will receive one free ticket voucher for any future Storm game (December 17 game excluded).

Individual tickets are available and range in price from $8 to $25 and can be purchased by calling the Storm's front office (312) 226-GOAL (4625), Ticketmaster (312) 559-1212 or by visiting www.ticketmaster.com. Fans can also purchase individual tickets at the UIC box office located on 525 South Racine, Chicago, IL 60607. The box office is open from 12:00 noon until 6:00 p.m. Monday to Friday and 10:00 a.m. through 4:00 p.m. on Saturday.

Chicago Storm vs. Philadelphia KiXX - Friday

UIC Pavilion, 7:30 p.m. CT

English Radio: www.chicagostorm.net

Spanish Radio: Univision Radio WRTO 1200 AM

Chicago Storm @ Kansas City Comets - Saturday

Kemper Arena, 1:05 p.m. CT

English Radio: www.chicagostorm.net

Storm Injury Report

Byron Alvarez – Left ankle spain – Probable

Novi Marojevic – Plica in left knee – Probable

Awadalla Morad – Left groin pull – Probable

Leo Pernia – IT Band Friction Syndrome right knee - Probable

Matthew Stewart – Left knee sprain – Out

Friday's Game vs. Philadelphia KiXX

Senior Referee: Ted Grigoriou

Referee: Kelly R. Ross

Assistant Referee: Abiodun Okulaja

Fourth Official: Ian M. Gut

Saturday's Game @ Kansas City Comets

Senior Referee: Tim Tyma

Referee: Jose A. Andrade

Assistant Referee: Ron Cory

Fourth Official: Jeff Kollmeyer

Night and Day: For the second consecutive week, the "Yellow and Black" will play an evening contest at home and then travel for an afternoon encounter. This time, the trip takes the Storm to Kansas City on Saturday, where they will face off against Western Division-leading Comets for the first time ever at 1:05 p.m. CT at the Kemper Arena. The Comets come into the contest with a record of 4-3, placing them on top of the Western Division with a 1.5 game lead on the San Diego Sockers. The game can be heard live on www.chicagostorm.net. The Storm defeated the Baltimore Blast last Saturday evening at the Pavilion and then traveled to Philadelphia for a 12:05 p.m. CT match-up, where the team lost to the KiXX.

Exhibition Match: Even though the Storm's afternoon match against the Kansas City Comets will be the very first one this season, the two teams got a glimpse of each other back in October during an exhibition weekend held at the Darien Sportsplex in Darien, IL. The "Yellow and Black" picked up a 6-5 victory over the Comets, which proved to be the first win in a three game sweep of the weekend. Novica "Novi" Marojevic had a stellar performance, recording a hat trick in the Storm's first-ever exhibition game. Midfielder Andy Guasteferro got in on the scoring action when he netted a goal off a pass from Matthew Stewart. Along with the assist, Steward also tallied a goal of his own, which came in the fourth quarter and proved to be the game winner. Kansas City made things close when they scored back-to-back goals by Jamar Beasley and Anthony Maher cutting the lead down to one with a little over one minute left in the game. However the Storm held off the late rally and pulled out a 6-5 victory after two stellar saves from goalkeeper Danny Waltman.

Mo' Goals for Morad: Chicago Storm forward Awadalla Morad will look to continue his stellar play this weekend against the Philadelphia KiXX and Kansas City Comets. The speedy forward has racked up seven goals and four assists for 11 total points after only playing six professional games for the Storm. Morad's most recent goal came this past Sunday afternoon at Philadelphia when he scored 4:08 into the third quarter, tying the game up 4-4, although the Storm went on to lose by a final of 9-5. He also picked up two goals and one assist in a 10-6 victory over the two-time defending champion Baltimore Blast on December 11 at the UIC Pavilion. "Awad" made his first appearance in a Storm uniform against the Milwaukee Wave on November 26 after missing the first 6 games of the season due to a groin injury. After making a full recovery, the West Bank, Palestine native made a huge impact with two goals and one assist in a thrilling 8-7 victory over division rival Milwaukee at the UIC Pavilion. Morad, who now lives in Burbank, Illinois then proceeded to record one goal and two assists in an 8-7 loss against the St. Louis Steamers at the Savvis Center two days later.

Season Series against Philadelphia: So far this season, the Storm has faced off against the KiXX two times with each team bagging one victory. The "Yellow and Black" faced off against the Philadelphia KiXX for the first time back on November 14, at the Wachovia Spectrum. The KiXX came into the contest with a record of 4-0 and was in first-place in the eastern conference. However, midfielder Novi Marojevic scored twice and dished out an assist to help the Storm defeat the KiXX 7-4, handing them their first loss of the season. The Storm traveled to Philadelphia for the second time this season on December 12, where the KiXX pulled out a 9-5 victory, evening the season series at 1-1. The "Yellow and Black" tied the game at 4-4 early in the third when forward Awadalla Morad bagged his seventh goal of the season on an unassisted power play goal. However, the KiXX managed to score three straight goals to pull away for the victory.

Coming on Strong: Storm midfielder Andy Rosenband has made a strong impact on the team so far this season, and will look to continue his solid play this weekend against Philadelphia and Kansas City. Rosaband's first goal of his indoor soccer career came during an 8-7 victory of division rival Milwaukee on November, 26 at the UIC Pavilion when he slipped a header right past Milwaukee's goalkeeper Nick Vorberg on an assist from forward Awadalla Morad. Since then, the Hammond, Indiana native has recorded six goals, including four this past weekend, giving him a total of seven goals in 11 games played to tie him for second on the team behind Byron Alvarez (8). Rosenband has also dished out two assists this season, ranking him sixth on the team in points with nine in his first year of indoor soccer.



Major Indoor Soccer League 2 Stories from December 17, 2004


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