MISL News Release
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
TAMPA, Fla. – The Major Indoor Soccer League announced on Tuesday that Wichita Wings midfielder Bryan Perez had been named the league’s Player of the Week for the 14th week of the 2011-12 season. Perez had a five-point night, including the game-winning goal in overtime, as the Wings took a thrilling 19-17 victory against the Rochester Lancers on Saturday night at Hartman Arena.
Perez scored the opening goal of the game, in addition to the decisive final score, blasting home from 3-point range from a free kick with just more than five minutes played. In a back-and-forth contest that saw the Wings and Lancers exchange the lead six times, Perez was then on hand to land the decisive blow at 8:46 of the overtime period, sending the near-capacity crowd of 4,439 in Wichita into celebrations.
The victory was a crucial one for the Wings as they try to close the gap on the Missouri Comets in the MISL Central Division for the second and final place in the postseason. The Wings trail the Comets by three games, with two games in hand and seven games remaining in their regular season. In addition to Perez’s standout performance, new Wings signing Angel Rivillo was also excellent in his debut, scoring a pair of goals including a 3-pointer.
Other players considered for the weekly award included Milwaukee’s Greg Howes, who had a seven-point night as the Wave took a 22-8 victory against the Baltimore Blast. He was joined by teammate Giuliano Oliviero, who had five points on a pair of goals and an assist. Baltimore’s Carlos Garcia also had a good week, scoring five goals in two games, including a four-goal night in the Blast’s midweek victory against Norfolk. Rochester’s Lubo Kocic was excellent in defeat for the Lancers against the Wings, posting a hat trick and a seven-point night to lead all scorers in that contest.
The MISL season continues with five games this week, all of which will be available on MISL Live (www.misllivesoccer.com), the league’s free online video service. More clarity could be brought to the Central Division playoff race on Friday night as the Wings try to build off their victory in a trip to face Milwaukee at U.S. Cellular Arena, while Missouri will aim to at least maintain its advantage against the Wings as it hosts the Baltimore Blast at the Independence Events Center.
Sunday sees another pair of crucial afternoon contests, with the Syracuse Silver Knights heading to Rochester to face the Lancers at Blue Cross Arena at 1 p.m. ET, with the Comets and Wave meeting in Milwaukee’s home finale at 4 p.m. ET. The weekend kicks off on Thursday night as Syracuse hosts Norfolk at the Oncenter War Memorial with the Silver Knights looking to cut the Lancers’ lead in the race for the Eastern Division playoffs to one game before their showdown on Sunday afternoon.