STORM PLAN ON FINISHING WHAT THEY START
2005 Preview
By: Dan Parks
Year two is upon the Chicago Storm, and head coach Frank Klopas has his players poised to finish the job his inaugural squad started last winter. The Storm was knocked out of playoff contention on the final day of its first season in the Major Indoor Soccer League. They host the defending champion Milwaukee Wave in the season opener on Sunday, Nov. 6 at 4 p.m. at the UIC Pavilion.
It’s a more streamlined league this year with only six teams competing after the addition of the California Cougars and the suspension of operations of both the Kansas City Comets and Cleveland Force. Players from the latter two teams were dispersed in a draft to the remaining six entries.
Also, the season is just 30 games long, 10 shorter than the original schedule last season meaning each contest takes on that much more meaning. There will be no wiggle room in the race for the playoffs this year.
Klopas has retained much of the core of his team that finished 18-21 and just a half game out of the playoffs behind St. Louis. He feels he’s added the thing last year’s edition lacked most: indoor soccer experience. Many of the Storm’s players last fall were very talented soccer players, but not enough of them knew how to best use those talents within the confines of the smaller and faster surface of the indoor game.
"We have a lot of new faces this year that are difference makers thanks to some teams dropping from the league. On paper we look strong, but it's not how you start, but how you finish. And we remember how last year ended," Klopas said.
Players like midfielder Lazo Alavanja and Mexican forwards Byron Alvarez and Jorge Valle were all strong players, but it took a little while for they and their teammates to blend together and get used to the indoor game. The team’s development was hastened after the Storm picked up forward Mark Ughy and midfield Nino DaSilva from San Diego in the dispersal draft and acquired defender Fred DeGand in a trade.
The Storm chose indoor veterans John Ball and Tamas Weisz from Cleveland and midfielders Fabinho and Justin Evans from Kansas City. Ball was the second leading scorer in the league a year ago and led Cleveland to a runner-up finish to Milwaukee in the MISL Championship Series. He’s also familiar with Chicago and Frank Klopas as Ball was a teammate of his new coach back in 1999 when he was with Klopas as a member of the Chicago Fire. Evans had a couple of stints with the Fire as well.
Ball was the second leading scorer in the league with 61 points. He joins team captain Novi Marojevic, who was number seven on the league scoring charts notching 48 points. Ughy was 12th just five points behind Novi. This trio along with the continued development and good health of Awadalla Morad put the Storm offense in good standing.
"I had a good 10-year run in Cleveland. Not many players can say they played ten years in one spot. I wanted to come to Chicago. Bottom line, we are going to be a good team, a very fast team. I'm very excited to help get this team to the playoffs," Ball said.
A big part of the Storm’s success last year stemmed from stellar goalkeeping by indoor rookie Danny Waltman. The Gig Harbor, Washington native took over the starting goalie spot in the second game and didn’t relinquish it all season finishing with an 18-18 record and a 5.23 goals against average. Jeff Richey will be there to back up Waltman again.
"We all know we should have been on ESPN last year in the playoffs. We certainly have a chip on our shoulders because we missed by one game and have something to prove," Waltman said.
The defense in front of him will look a little different. Gone are the extremely intense Pernia brothers. Their experience on the field will be missed, but having a calmer presence in the team may be beneficial when the heat is on and games come down to the wire. Tijani Ayegbusi and DeGand return to team with Ball, dispersal draft pick Ryan Hall from Cleveland, and Matt Johnson joining them to man the back line.
With Andy Rosenband on the developmental squad with the Fire and Andy Guastaferro being traded to the Philadelphia Kixx two weeks ago, the midfield will be looking a bit different, too. Alavanja, DaSilva, Novi, and sparkplug Matthew Stewart are back with Evans and Branko Savic joining them in trying to run the transition game and create scoring opportunities in the midfield.
It should be an interesting year. Each game means that much more and each team is that much better. The Storm’s sophomore voyage begins Sunday afternoon. Enjoy the ride.
Contributing: Gary Zahara