League Announces All-MISL Teams
ALL-MISL SELECTIONS UNVEILED
WESTPORT, Conn. – The Major Indoor Soccer League announced Thursday the players comprising the All-MISL Teams for the 2004-05 regular season. Spalding Scoring Champion and Milwaukee Wave forward Greg Howes leads the list of MISL stars that were honored by a panel of media and team personnel, in balloting that concluded on Monday evening.
Voters were asked to select two complete teams of All-MISL players. Each voter was asked to choose one goalkeeper, two defenders, and three forward/midfielders for each team. A first-team vote was worth two points and a second-team vote was worth one point.
Howes, who led the MISL in scoring for the second consecutive season, was the only player to appear on all ballots, and was also a unanimous first-team selection. In 36 games this season, the fifth-year Wave veteran led the League with 73 points, 41 goals, and 32 assists. This is Howes’ third career All-MISL selection.
Joining Howes as first-team forwards/midfielders were the Cleveland Force’s John Ball and the Philadelphia KiXX’ Don D’Ambra. Ball, who finished second to Howes in points (61) this season, led the Force with 30 goals and 31 assists. A veteran of 10 seasons with Cleveland, Ball’s name appeared on 94 percent of the ballots for either the first- or second-team.
As with Ball, this is D’Ambra’s second career all-league selection. The player/head coach of the KiXX guided Philadelphia to its ninth-straight postseason appearance, leading the team with 48 points and 32 goals in 34 games played.
The first-team defense is a repeat of last season’s All-MISL defenders. Philadelphia’s Pat Morris appeared on 94 percent of the ballots to lead all players at his position in that area. The Philadelphia native led the league in blocks (93), and was among the MISL’s top-20 finishers in points (43), goals (22) and assists (21).
Genoni Martinez, who began the season with Monterrey before joining Cleveland in mid-February, was remarkable in helping to turn that club’s season around. In his 20 games with the Force, the team went 15-5. In 26 total games played, the two-time MISL Defender of the Year finished with 41 points, on 18 goals and 23 assists. He led the League in restart goals with seven and added 41 blocks. It is his fifth career All-League honor.
All-MISL goalkeeper Peter Pappas of Philadelphia also repeats at his position on the first team. The now seven-time All-League selection ranked second in goals against average (4.34), minutes played (2,086), saves (449), and save percentage (.748), and finished third in wins (19) among goalkeepers.
The All-MISL Second Team includes a two-time MISL MVP in Kansas City, forward Dino Delevski, who has now been voted All-League five times. Delevski finished the season with 56 points (34 goals, 22 assists) for the Comets. Another Comet, defender Vlatko Andonovski, received his first All-MISL recognition after completing a highly productive season in Kansas City with totals of 17 goals, 25 assists, and 45 blocks in just 30 games played.
Also included is a pair of Milwaukee players who helped the Wave finish the regular season with the best record in the league for the sixth straight year. Earning their first-ever All-MISL honors were defender Chris Morman and goalkeeper Nick Vorberg. Morman is a five-year indoor veteran, who finished fifth on the Wave in points (29) and led his team in blocks (52). Vorberg, who became the team’s primary starter at goalkeeper this year, put up the most impressive numbers of any keeper in the MISL in 2004-05. Vorberg began his professional career in 1997, but flourished this season in leading the MISL in goals against average (3.96), save percentage (.762), and wins (22).
Representing the two-time defending MISL Champion Baltimore Blast on the All-MISL Second Team is forward Giuliano Celenza, who earns the recognition for the first time in his career. The Baltimore native and fifth-year professional led his team in points for the first time (49). Celenza finished tied for third in the MISL in goals with 32.
The St. Louis Steamers are represented by attacker Carlos “Chile” Farias on the All-MISL Second Team. The veteran goal scorer was acquired by the Steamers in a late season trade with Baltimore, and helped St. Louis clinch an MISL Championship Series berth. The three-time All-MISL selection finished third in the MISL in points (58) and fifth in assists (29).
There were a total of seven repeat selections from last season’s All-MISL teams. Of this year’s honorees, Pappas leads the way with seven career All-League recognitions, and is followed by Delevski (five), Martinez (five), and Morris (four).
ABOUT THE MISL
The Major Indoor Soccer League is a single-entity organization featuring a coast-to-coast presence with seven teams located across the United States. The MISL is the single major league of indoor soccer. In February of 2004, the League announced an expansion team in Stockton, CA, that will begin play in 2005-06. On May 4, 2004, the League announced plans for an expansion team in Newark, NJ, that will begin play in 2007-08. The 2004-05 regular season concluded on Sunday, April 24. The top four teams in the standings (Milwaukee, Cleveland, Philadelphia, and St. Louis) have qualified for the 2005 MISL Championship Series, which commences with the Semifinal Round on the weekend of April 29-May 1. The 2005 MISL Championship Series Finals are scheduled for Saturday, May 14 at U.S. Cellular Arena in Milwaukee (Game One) and Saturday, May 21 at Savvis Center in St. Louis (Game Two). The MISL Championship Series Finals will be telecast live in prime time on ESPN2. For more information on the MISL, visit the League’s website at www.MISL.net.