LOST WEEKEND

By: Dan Parks
Photos: Richie Pawlak

The game was there for the taking Sunday afternoon at UIC Pavilion, but unfortunately for the Chicago Storm (5-9), the Baltimore Blast (8-5) just took it right from under their noses. Ibrahim Kante’s goal off a re-start and through Storm goalkeeper Danny Waltman’s legs (5 saves) with just 36 seconds remaining in regulation put the Blast up 5-4 securing a sweep of the weekend home-and-home series. Baltimore parlayed a 4-0 first quarter lead on Saturday night at 1st Mariner Arena to a 9-5 win over the Storm.

“I thought we had control of the game and had them,” Storm head coach Frank Klopas said after the game. “We need a killer instinct, and we didn’t have it. The thing that was disappointing for me is that we played well enough to win. We had a power play and it felt like we were short handed.”

Both teams traded goals in the first half with the visitors scoring first and last going into the second half with a 3-2 lead. The Storm broke the back-and-forth pace of the game scoring twice in the third quarter.

Awadalla Morad and Gus Kartes were the total Storm offense on the day as they each scored their second goals of the game in that third stanza. Morad came all alone recovering a turnover and used his speed and dribbling to cut across the goal before moving back toward the Blast goal and slotting a shot through Baltimore goalkeeper Sagu’s (12 saves) legs to tie the score at 3-3 just four minutes into the second half. It was Morad’s seventh marker of the season.

Kartes was lethal again off a dead ball set up by “Novi” Marojevic. The tandem teamed up to tie the score 2-2 in the second quarter when Kartes struck Novi’s pass first time into the upper corner. The second time around Kartes benefited from a lucky bounce. Novi’s pass hit Kante and deflected to Kartes, who pounced on the ball and parked it into the goal for his 11th score of the season giving the Storm their only lead with 2:08 remaining in the third quarter.

Not much went the Storm’s way in the fourth quarter. Anthony Maher was called for tripping just 3:41 into the period and was sitting in the penalty box when Balitmore’s David Bascome made Maher pay dearly. The Storm had trouble clearing on the penalty kill allowing Robbie Aristodemo to assist on Bascome’s power play goal at 4:22 tying the score at 4-4.

“Tonight I thought we had control the whole game, but we have to be disciplined,” said Klopas. “We need to keep our heads in the game. We made some bad decisions and paid for it. They’re dangerous off set pieces.”

Before Baltimore’s game-winning goal, it looked like the Storm might have the opening they had hoped for. Wendell Regis was caught throwing an elbow at 9:20 resulting in an immediate red card for the Baltimore defender. Major Indoor Soccer League rules inexplicably state that a straight red card foul results in a 2-minute power play just like a blue card infraction. That rule will leave most scratching their heads in amazement, but the Storm failed to muster much of an attack during the two-minute man advantage anyway.

It’s another weekend series with a team from out east for the Storm, as they will match up against the Philadelphia Kixx (4-7). It will be a very important weekend as only a half game separates the two squads in the standings, and the Kixx currently own the fourth and final spot in the MISL playoff race. Saturday night they’ll face off at the Wachovia Spectrum before finishing off the weekend at UIC Pavilion Sunday at 4 p.m.

HOME