Vorberg shuts out Monterrey

by WISL Press Release
Published on November 1, 2000 under World Indoor Soccer League (WISL)

WISL Press Release

DALLAS, TX – Monterrey La Raza's six game winning streak came to an abrupt end on Monday when the Utah Freezz led by goalkeeper Nick Vorberg shutout the highest scoring team in the World Indoor Soccer League, 6-0. Vorberg was spectacular making 18 saves in the win. The loss could still prove more costly for Monterrey as they await word on suspensions for two of their players. The Freezz are now two games behind Monterrey and just a half-game behind Dallas.

The Dallas Sidekicks kept pace with Monterrey and Utah by knocking off the Arizona Thunder 8-6 on Sunday. The Sidekicks were led by Terry Woodberry's hat trick and goalkeeper Sagu's 14 saves. The Sidekicks have now won five in a row. The Sidekicks seemed to have strengthened their team with new acquisitions Eric Dade and Ted Eck. The two played together for the first time on Sunday, with Eck recording his first assist of the year. Team leading scorer David Doyle has 25 goals and 18 assists on the year, which is second in the WISL.

The St. Louis Steamers heated up the playoff picture by defeating the Houston Hotshots 9-5 on Friday night. The win put the Steamers one game behind the Hotshots and the Arizona Thunder for the fourth seed. The next night, the Hotshots rebounded from their loss by defeating the Sacramento Knights 7-3 in Arco Arena. Rookie Clint Regier scored two goals in the win giving him a League high 26 goals on the year, three shy of the League record 29 set last year. The win is the Hotshots second road win of the year. The win put the Hotshots into a tie with the Thunder for fourth place. If the season ended today, the Hotshots would have the fourth seed, because they own the tiebreaker over the Thunder winning three out of four head to head games this year. The Hotshots can clinch a playoff berth this Saturday by defeating the Utah Freezz at home and a loss by the Sacramento Knights.

The Arizona Thunder lost a great chance to put more space between themselves and the Houston Hotshots this weekend. The Thunder lost both road games, falling 7-6 to Monterrey and 8-6 to Dallas. Saturday's loss was difficult as the Thunder gave up two goals with less than two minutes remaining in the game to lose by one. The loss erased a great performance in nets by Juan De La O who made 28 saves. Both losses put the Thunder 7.5 games out of first and into a tie with the Houston Hotshots for fourth place. This Friday the Thunder can clinch a playoff berth by defeating the Sacramento Knights at home.

Player of the Week: St. Louis Steamers rookie midfielder Jeff DiMaria was named the World Indoor Soccer League's (WISL) FurySports.com Player of the Week during the twelfth week of WISL action, earning the Steamers its fourth league honor of the season.

On Sunday, October 21 against the Sacramento Knights, DiMaria tallied his first hat trick of the season, leading the Steamers to an 8-7 victory. DiMaria notched the first goal of the game in the first quarter and remained quiet until the third quarter when he tallied back-to-back goals, including his first game-winning goal of the season. In eighteen games this season, DiMaria totals 17 points (13 goals, 4 assists) with 33 shots on goal.

DiMaria, who received 51% of the votes, was chosen as player of the week by fans who voted on the League's website, www.wisl.net. The WISL player of the week nominees for last week were Jeff DiMaria(3g, vs. SAC), Beau Brown-UTA (2g, 1a vs. DAL; 1g, 2 vs. ARZ), Renato Pereira-MON (2g vs. SAC; 2g, 2a vs. HOU) and Clint Regier-HOU (4g vs. MON). Each week, WISL fans can log on to www.wisl.net to cast their vote for player of the week. Results of the player of the week voting will be announced the following Monday.

A St. Louis native, DiMaria spent two seasons at St. Louis University (1998-1999) where he totaled 41 points, 15 goals, 11 assists, 103 shots on goal and was a two-time Conference USA First-Team All-Conference selection. During his senior season, he earned NSCAA First-Team All-American and the Most Valuable Midfielder of the C-USA tournament honors while leading the Billikens in scoring with 26 points. Prior to transferring to the Billikens, DiMaria played collegiate soccer at the University of Connecticut (1995-1997) where he was a second team All-Big East and All-New England selection.

Week thirteen nominations for the FurySports.com Player of the Week are, Terry Woodberry- DAL (3g, 1a vs. ARZ), Mariano Bollella-MON (3g vs. ARZ), and Juan De La O- ARZ (28 saves vs. MON). Voting for player of the week can be done by logging onto www.wisl.net, voting ends Monday morning. Week 1-Chris McDonald-SAC; Week 2-Matthew Stewart-HOU; Week 3- Rusty Troy-DAL; Week 4- Kevin Koetters-STL; Week 5- David Doyle-DAL; Week 6- Beau Brown-UT; Week 7- Mark Moser-STL; Week 8 Juan De La O-ARZ; Week 9 Ato Leone-HOU; Week 10 Mark Moser-STL; Week 11 Clint Regier-HOU; Week 12 Jeff DiMaria-STL.

WORLD INDOOR SOCCER LEAGUE TEAM NOTES

Arizona Thunder 8-12 (T-4th)

The Arizona Thunder led by new player/coach Gary Young tried to turn thing around, but lost both road games this past week. On Saturday, Monterrey La Raza came from behind to score two late goals to win 7-6. Then on Sunday, the Thunder came up short against the Dallas Sidekicks 8-6. Both losses put the Thunder into a tie with the Houston Hotshots for fourth place. The Hotshots own the tiebreaker has they have won three out of the four meeting this year. Jason Vanacour leads the WISL with 57 blocks and goalkeeper Juan De La O leads all keepers with a 4.21 goals against average and has allowed the fewest goals in the League with 75. The Thunder will hope to end a season long five game losing streak this week against last place Sacramento. The Knights are still in the playoff picture, barely. If the Thunder can beat the Knights they will have qualify for the WISL playoffs.

Dallas Sidekicks 14-6 (2nd)

The Dallas Sidekicks won their fifth game in a row by defeating the Arizona Thunder 8-6 on Sunday. The Sidekicks are only 1.5 games out of first place. The Sidekicks have a balanced attack with David Doyle leading the offense with 43 points, which is second in the WISL and Sagu heading up the defense with a 4.30 goals against average, second amongst goalkeeper. Dallas Burn defender Ted Eck made his first appearance with the Sidekicks recording an assist in the win. Heading into the playoffs the Sidekicks have bolstered their team adding Eric Dade and Eck and on offense the Sidekicks are second in scoring with player/coach Tatu with 41 points, Patrick Shamu 30 points, Giampaulo Pedroso 23, and Nick Stavrou 232 points. The Sidekicks will hope to cut into Monterrey's lead on Sunday by hosting the St. Louis Steamers at Reunion Arena. The Steamers have beaten the Sidekicks once already at Reunion Arena this year.

Monterrey La Raza 15-4 (1st)

Monterrey La Raza split their two games this week. On Saturday, La Raza came from behind late in the fourth quarter to steal a victory out of the hands of defeat. La Raza scored two goals with less than two minutes remaining to win 7-6 over the Arizona Thunder. The win marked the 12th straight home win for La Raza dating back to last year. Monday's road game in Utah would be different as La Raza got shutout, 6-0. In the loss two players were ejected, Martin Hernandez and David Pereyra. The loss was also costly as the Freezz gained one game on Monterrey and idle Dallas gained a .5 game. Monterrey plays the next four out of five games on the road, which could determine if they will maintain home field advantage all through the playoffs.

Houston Hotshots 8-12 (T-4th)

The Houston Hotshots spilt their two game road trip losing to St. Louis, 9-5 and defeating Sacramento 7-3. The Hotshots are currently tied with the Arizona Thunder for fourth place. Good news for the Hotshots is that they hold the tiebreaker, defeating the Thunder three out of four times this year. A win on Saturday against the Utah Freezz and a loss from the Sacramento Knights and the Hotshots will be in the playoffs. It won't be easy as the Hotshots have lost twice to the Freezz already this year. Team leading scorer Ato Leone has 40 points on the year, which is fifth in the WISL and rookie Clint Regier has 36 points, which is tied for seventh. Regier also leads the WISL in goals scored with 26. If Houston hopes to make it into the playoffs they will need big games from their two stars.

St. Louis Steamers 6-12 (6th)

The St. Louis Steamers inched one step closer to the playoffs by defeating the Houston Hotshots 9-5 on Friday. The win put the Steamers only one game behind the Hotshots and the Arizona Thunder for fourth place. The Steamers can make up a lot of ground this week as they'll play the Utah Freezz in a continuation of the August 12 game. After the double header the Steamers will then travel to Dallas to take on the Sidekicks on Sunday. The Steamers have been playing well of late winning three out of their last four games. The Steamers will need continued great play from star Mark Moser 19 goals in 12 games and new comer Joe Reiniger eight goals and five assists in eight games. Anchoring the defense is Jeff Davis, who has 49 blocks, which is third in the WISL.

Sacramento Knights 3-15 (7th)

The Sacramento Knights playoff bubble is shrinking after last week's 7-3 loss to the Houston Hotshots. If the Knights hope to make it into the playoffs they will need to win their remaining six games and need help from: Houston, Arizona, and St. Louis. The Knights take on the Arizona Thunder this Friday in Phoenix. A loss to the Thunder the Knights will only have a chance at the final playoff spot, which St. Louis currently hold with a three game lead over the Knights.

Utah Freezz 13-6 (3rd)

The Utah Freezz made a statement to the rest of the WISL by shutting out the highest scoring team in the League on Monday, 6-0. Goalkeeper Nick Vorberg becomes only the second keeper in WISL history to record a shutout and it's only the third shutout in League history. The win more importantly puts the Freezz only two games out of first place. This week the Freezz can gain more ground on Monterrey as they play two games against St. Louis on Friday, and then play Houston on Saturday. The Freezz have been led down the stretch by team leading scorer, Beau Brown 36 points and player/coach Jeff Betts 30 points. In nets, Vorberg has been a rock with 13 wins and a 4.31 goals against average. This weeks games will be test as the Freezz are only 4-5 on the road this year.

World Indoor Soccer League Stories from November 1, 2000

• Vorberg shuts out Monterrey - OSC Original by WISL Press Release

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