PASL-Pro Action from December 19-30, 2009

ILLUSION PUTS AWAY PIASA

GLEN CARBON, IL - December 30, 2009 - The St. Louis Illusion advanced to the Sweet 16 of the US Open with a strong 9-3 win over Piasa at The Game Arena in Glen Carbon, IL.

Shaun David led the Illusion attack with three goals and an assist. Little used Andrew Sandheinrich and Jon Fridal capitalized on their playing opportunity to knock in two goals each.

Kevin Jacobsmeyer also made an impressive debut in goal for the Illusion holding Piasa to three goals.

Piasa is the official developmental team of the Illusion. St. Louis will play the Kansas City Kings in the next round of the US Open.

CHILES COMES ON STRONG

DEL MAR, CA - December 30, 2009 - The San Diego Sockers are halfway through their toughest schedule stretch to date and so far they are passing with flying colors. San Diego used a seven goal fourth quarter to secure a 13-6 win over Revolucion Tijuana.

Kraig Chiles upped his goal scoring lead with a hat trick and now has 17 goals in the Sockers seven league games. Dan Antoniuk also had a hat trick, Anthony Medina had two goals and two assists, and Paul Wright had four assists.

The Sockers beat the San Diego Fusion 10-6 on Monday. On Saturday they will put their perfect 7-0 record on the line against the California Cougars and on Sunday they will try to advance to the Semifinals of the US Open against the Estadio Azteca All-Stars.

SOCKERS ADVANCE

DEL MAR, CA - December 28, 2009 - The San Diego Sockers advanced to the Quarterfinals of the US Open Arena Soccer Championships with a 10-6 win over the San Diego Fusion at Del Mar Arena. The PASL-Premier Fusion are the official developmental team of the Sockers.

The Sockers built a tentative 2-0 lead in the first quarter and then went in for the kill with a 6-0 run in the second quarter to lead 8-0 at halftime. Anthony Medina, Paul Wright, Aaron Susi, and Kraig Chiles had two goals apiece.

The second half was a totally different story. The Sockers replaced goalkeeper Riley Swift, who had a flawless first half, with Tim Edwards. The Fusion capitalized just nine seconds into the third quarter to break the shutout. By the end of the third quarter the lead had been cut to 8-4.

The Fusion struck for two more goals just seconds apart to cut the Sockers lead to 8-6, but Nate Hetherington broke the momentum with a timely goal that put the Sockers up 9-6.

Wright completed his hat trick with 18 seconds left in the game, scoring an empty net goal to close out the scoring.

Chris Toth, the son of Sockers legend Zoltan Toth, played a tremendous game, manning the Fusion nets while his teammates mounted their furious combeack.

At halftime the Sockers hosted an old-timers game featuring such beloved former Sockers as Juli Veee, Brian Quinn, Zoltan Toth, and Erich Geyer.

The Sockers will host the Estadio Azteca All-Stars on Sunday at 1 pm. The winner will advance to the US Open Semifinals. Estadio Azteca advanced by upsetting the California Cougars and Tacoma Stars.

TEXAS FALLS TO DALLAS VITESSE IN OPEN CUP PLAY

NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, TX - December 20, 2009 – The Texas Outlaws, without their top players for this game, fell to their own reserve team after taking the early lead. Vitesse came back strong to take a 3-1 lead by the end of the first quarter. The Outlaws scored their second goal to pull within one of Vitesse in the second quarter. After that, it was all Vitesse with three goals in the second, two in the third, and three more in the fourth.

“El Gato” Mario Torres scored a hat trick in the fourth quarter and had four goals overall. Other players of note for Vitesse included Edgar Hernandez who had two goals and an assist, Pablo Friedlich who had a goal and two assists, and Chase Wileman with a goal and two assists.

Goal scorers for the Outlaws included Jimi Webb and Eric Murillo.

“Our top players really needed a break after two games on the road and one here at home in just 8 days. We already suffering from a number of injuries and we just couldn’t afford to put our season at risk with more injuries. We let some of the young guys play for experience and our lack of depth clearly showed. We made the right decision, because one more injury would significantly change our field line-up,” commented Head Coach Kevin Leonard.

The Outlaws will face the California Cougars on January 10th in Texas and then must play back-to-back double header weekends on the road. The first will be to San Diego and California on January 16th and 17th. The second trip will be to Canada for a match-up against Edmonton and Calgary on January 23rd and 24th.

NOSCHANG LEADS EXPRESS TO VICTORY

ROYAL OAK, MI - December 20, 2009 - The Detroit Waza again hosted their Eastern Division rivals, 1790 Cincinnati Express. These two teams have met more times than any other pairing in the Professional Arena Soccer League.

This round goes to the Express. Cincinnati, behind a hat trick from rookie Kevin Noschang, beat the Waza 9-7 to improve to 5-2. With the loss Detroit falls to 3-3.

The Waza dug an early hole and staged a series of rallies, but could not catch the disciplined 1790 squad. After Cincinnati built a 4-1 lead, Detroit could get no closer than 6-5. Player/coach Dominic Scicluna had two of Detroit's goals.

"There wasn't enough defensive unity," said Dominic Scicluna, whose brother Tino also had a goal. "We gave them too many easy goals."

For Noschang, who played college soccer at Indiana and set an NCAA record for fastest goal by scoring six seconds into a game, it was his first career hat trick.

Both teams are now off until January 2 when Cincinnati travels to St. Louis and Detroit hosts Winnipeg.

1790 Cincinnati Express vs. Ohio Vortex

VORTEX GET FIRST WIN OF THE SEASON

CLEVELAND, OH - December 19, 2009 – Allen Eller’s hat trick led the Ohio Vortex to a 9-6 defeat of the 1790 Cincinnati Express at the Cleveland Multiplex.

Midfielder Milko Cecez and forward Adis Kuduzovic each contributed two goals for the Vortex. Kuduzovic led the squad with two assists, while newcomer Wes Sechrist and keeper Nate Rausch kept the Cincinnati offense at bay. Sechrist’s leadership and experience proved to be quite a boost for the young Vortex squad, while Rausch was simply phenomenal in goal with 23 saves.

The Vortex started with a flourish and finished the first quarter with a 3-1 lead. The strong play from the Vortex early helped set the tone for the match.

Malone University alum Lucas Martorana scored the first goal of the second quarter as the Vortex maintained their fast and physical play. Jack Cummings’ goal in the ninth minute was answered by Ohio’s Kuduzovic just four minutes later. The Express cut the Vortex lead to 5-3 with a Shawn Rockey power play goal two minutes before halftime.

The third quarter was pure domination by the Vortex as they added four more goals. Ohio’s defense shut out the Express, which is almost unheard of in the indoor game. The 9-3 lead at the end of the third proved to be insurmountable for Cincinnati.

Young midfielder John Mellencamp (one goal) and veteran striker Matt Breines (two goals) led a relentless attack from the Express in the fourth, but were unable to get closer than the 9-6 final.

The Vortex (1-3) play their next match against the Louisville Lightning at the Canton Civic Center on January 2. Cincinnati (4-2) has little time to rest as they face the Detroit Waza on Sunday, December 20.

ILLUSION SLIPS BY THE LIGHTNING IN FINAL MINUTES

GLEN CARBON, IL - December 19, 2009 - The St. Louis Illusion disappeared for a quarter, but had one final trick up their sleeve to beat the Louisville Lightning 10-9.

St. Louis built a 9-4 lead behind three goals and an assist from Elvir Kafedzic and two goals and an assist from Jesse Elmore, but almost no lead is safe in arena soccer.

Red hot Glenn Volk led a furious five-goal rally to even the game at 9-9 with 4:13 to play in the fourth quarter.

Josh Boyd put a stop to the rally and gave St. Louis a 10-9 lead with 1:40 to go. The 1:40 mark has been magic for the Illusion. In their last game, an 11-10 win over Texas, Vedad Alagic scored the game-winning goal with 1:40 to play.

The Illusion leap frogged the Lightning in the Eastern Division standings. St. Louis improved to 3-2 while Louisville fell to 2-2.

OUTLAWS DOMINATE DEMIZE IN DRAMATIC FASHION

NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, TX - December 19, 2009 - The Texas Outlaws continued the solid start to their season with an easy 16-4 win over the PASL-Premier's Springfield Demize at TCG Arena at NYTEX Sports Centre.

Shaun David had a season high five goals and two assists as the Outlaws improved to 4-2 and pulled within two games of the first place San Diego Sockers (6-0) in the PASL-Pro's Western Division.

Jamie Harrigan's goal with 12:48 remaining in the first half gave Texas a 5-0 lead and proved to be an early game-winner. Harrigan and Edison Arboleda had two goals each. Alex Sabando had an Outlaws hat trick plus an assist.

Danny Collins was involved in all four Springfield goals, scoring two and assisting two.

Springfield goalkeeper Chris Hanlon had a robust 30 saves despite allowing 16 goals. Texas outshot the Demize 59-20.

The Outlaws are back in action at home again tomorrow against Vitesse Dallas in a sweet 16 US Open Arena Soccer Championship match.

FARBER CONTINUES STREAK IN WIN OVER TACOMA

SACRAMENTO, CA – December 19, 2009 – Enrique "Qeeks" Tovar netted two fourth quarter goals and Vicente "El Tigre" Figueroa scored two goals for the California Cougars during their 7-3 home win versus the Tacoma Stars in Sacramento on Saturday night.

The Cougars improved to 4-1 in Professional Arena Soccer League play with the victory, and 5-2 overall. The match was the third game in the “Arena Soccer League Triple Header” at Estadio Azteca Sports Arena in Sacramento. Tacoma also lost 7-6 in regulation in the first match of the day. That loss allowed the Estadio Azteca All-Stars to advance to the "Round of 8" in the United States Arena Soccer Open Cup Tournament.

California took a 3-1 lead to the half, but saw the lead slip to 5-3 in the fourth. Tovar floated a goal beyond then Tacoma sixth attacker Greg Howes to quiet a Stars rally in the fourth. His goal was chipped into an open net and gave the Cougars a 6-3 lead.

Tovar also scored on a shootout in the fourth to give the Cougars their seventh goal of the match.

The shootout was brought on after Howes was given a red card in the fourth quarter. The red card was issued after Howes contested the official’s ruling regarding the pass that set up Tovar’s goal. He adamantly argued that Pedro Lupercio’s pass to Tovar skimmed the screen above the field. The officials ruled that it never touched, and that play would continue without interruption. The Stars stopped playing to argue the call, but Tovar took advantage and scored the momentum killing goal.

Lupercio picked up a field long assist on the Tovar goal in the fourth. He also scored a crucial first quarter goal that broke a 1-1 tie.

Figueroa scored the first goal of the match with 9:05 remaining in the first quarter. Jason Gjersten of the Stars equalized the match in the first with an unassisted goal. Gjerstend connected with 2:15 remaining in the quarter, but Lupercio answered back with 1:23 left.

California’s lead improved to 3-1 when Craig Scheer scored his fourth goal of the PASL-Pro season in the second.

Tacoma began a furious comeback in the third, but the rally came after goals from Nelson Santana and Figueroa. Santana connected on his with 7:35 left in the third. Figueroa’s power play goal put California up 5-1 with 5:16 left in the third.

Chris Kintz started the Stars comeback when he scored on a free kick from the shootout line early in the fourth. With the goal, Kintz became the second PASL-Pro goalkeeper to score a goal in a league match. Michael Archuleta was the other. He scored a penalty kick goal during the final seconds of the inaugural PASL-Pro match between the Cougars and the now defunct Colorado Lightning.

The rally continued when James McDonnell netted a fourth quarter goal to bring the Stars within two at 5-3.

Brian Farber extended his point streak to 21 consecutive league matches after assisting Figueroa on the first goal of the match in the first quarter.

Matt McDougall saved four of six shots faced in the second half. He started in goal in place of Jesus Molina on Saturday. Molina was out while serving a one game suspension for receiving a red card during the Open Cup loss to Estadio Azteca at Turlock Indoor Soccer.