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Mar 13, 2008 from the AISL Newswire |
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Rampage Sweeps 2007-08 MVP, Coach of the Year Honors
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The Rockford Rampage is three quarters of the way to making it a clean sweep of the American Indoor Soccer League’s post-season award list. In addition to taking the league’s regular season championship, the AISL announced today that Rampage ‘keeper Dimitri Meletis was named the AISL’s Most Valuable Player and head coach Jeff Kraft was named the AISL’s Coach of the Year.
Meletis, living up to his nickname of “the Dominator”, had what can only be termed an “amazing” season for the Rampage in 2007-08. In his second full year in the AISL, Meletis has wowed AISL observers with his fearless and acrobatic style. He started all thirteen games for the Rampage this season, piling up twelve wins, as well as leading the league in minutes played, shots faced, saves made, and finished second in the AISL in points allowed.
“Dimitri is about as close to a prototype indoor ‘keeper as I have seen in my three years in the AISL,” said AISL media relations director Rich Paschette. “While he’s not the biggest guy in the league, you can bet money that he’ll stop any ball he can get to. He’s fearless between the pipes, has a very good arm, and can play well with his feet. He’s got the potential for a very long and successful career in the indoor game.”
This is the second straight year that a Rockford player has won the Most Valuable Player award. Last season, Bato Radoncic took home the trophy.
While much of the headlines for the Rampage have went to Meletis, Novi Marojevic, and Bato Radoncic, it has been the steady hand of Baltimore native Jeff Kraft which has kept the Rampage on the road to the AISL Championship Game.
After taking the Rampage (known as the Rockford Thunder last season) to the title game, Kraft took the nucleus of that squad, and with a few additions, built a team that has become arguably the strongest in the history of the AISL.
“Jeff has built the Rampage into a team that plays a skilled, yet uncompromising style of play,” said Paschette. “They don’t make a lot of mistakes, which to me is the hallmark of a smart, tactically sound coach, which Jeff is. The Rampage, under Jeff and his assistant Rob Kraft are going to be a very solid team for the foreseeable future.”
The Rampage will look to take home the “grand slam” of AISL awards at 7:30PM this Saturday night when they host the Massachusetts Twisters in the 2008 AISL Championship Game at the Victory Sports Complex, located at 7003 North Alpine Rd in Loves Park. Tickets for the game are available through the Rampage office at (847) 630-9034 or at the Victory Sports Complex box office the night of the game.
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Now in
it's third season, the American Indoor Soccer League has offices in West
Springfield, MA (Administrative) and Cleveland, OH (Media Relations). For
more information on the AISL, contact commissioner Paul LaPointe at (413)
569-0088 or director of media relations Rich Paschette at (216) 741-4144.
Information on the league can also be found on the AISL's official website,
www.aisl.org.
Questions or Comments? aislpr@aol.com
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