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Mar 15, 2008 from the AISL Newswire |
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Rampage Stampede Their Way to 2008 AISL Title!!
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Although the Rockford Rampage came up one game short in their pursuit of a perfect season, the sweet taste of champagne tonight made up for it, as the Rampage hammered the Massachusetts Twisters 18-5 to take home the American Indoor Soccer League Cup tonight at the Victory Sports Complex in Loves Park, IL in front of a standing room only crowd of 708.
The Rampage held a 3-2 lead after the first quarter, and never looked back, extending the lead to 8-2 at the half.
Bato Radoncic had a monster night for the Rampage, leading all scorers with six goals. Kyle Texiera led the Twisters with two goals.
“All season, the Rampage have shown they were not going to be denied the title this year after coming so close last season,” said AISL commissioner Paul Lapointe as he presented the AISL Cup to Rampage owner Oscar Albuquerque and coach Jeff Kraft. “The Rampage are a class organization from the top down, and they are a team that the league can be very proud of.”
“We had a good game. Everyone knew what they had to do, and did it,” said AISL Coach of the Year Jeff Kraft after the game. “I give all credit to the Twisters. They never stopped fighting, but we played like we were on a mission tonight.”
“I tell these guys that we’re a family and we play for each other, and tonight showed what can happen when we’re all playing together like a family. Novi (Marojevic), Bato (Radoncic), (Erik) Lukin, Mikey (Rigas)...everyone contributed.”
“I’m so proud of what we have accomplished this season,” said Rampage president Oscar Albuquerque. “We’ve built a great team in a great city, and this is the culmination of it all.”
AISL Most Valuable Player Dimitri Meletis took the win in goal for the Rampage, and Adam Perron took the loss for the Twisters.
Including tonight’s game, the Rampage finished with a record of 13-1. The Twisters final record for this season is 7-8.
Tonight’s game was set a record for most total points and the most points by one team in an AISL Cup Championship game.
The victory by the Rampage tonight marks the fifth different team to win the AISL title. Previous winners include the Massachusetts Aztecs (2003), the Detroit/Windsor Border Stars (2005), the Cincinnati Excite (2006), and the Massachusetts Twisters last season. All four previous AISL Cup Champions also won the league’s regular season title.
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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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