MISL News Release
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
TAMPA, Fla. – The Major Indoor Soccer League announced on Tuesday that Rochester Lancers forward Mauricio Salles had been named the league’s Player of the Week for the 17th week of the 2011-12 season. Salles had 14 points in a pair of games, playing a key role as the Lancers clinched their berth in the MISL Eastern Division Finals.
Salles had a pair of 3-point goals during the weekend, but the most critical came this past Thursday night against the Wichita Wings. With the Lancers needing a victory to claim their place in the playoffs, Salles struck from long range to give his side a 20-17 win, sending the crowd of 6,720 fans into celebrations.
Salles is only the second player to reach the 80-point plateau in the MISL this season, sitting second behind league-leader Geison of the Missouri Comets. The Brazilian’s 10-point game against the Wings was a franchise record, and added to a pair of nine-point games earlier this season.
Other players considered for the award included the Missouri Comets’ Byron Alvarez, who had a standout six-goal performance as his side defeated the Milwaukee Wave 21-6 on Sunday afternoon. Alvarez’s 13-point game, which included four power play goals, set a new single-game season high and vaulted the 2010-11 Most Valuable Player into third place in the points race. Norfolk’s Miguel Ferrer also had a standout performance, recording a hat trick in the SharX’s loss to Baltimore, while last week’s Player of the Week Machel Millwood continued his standout season with a six-point game against the SharX on two goals and two assists.
The MISL regular season concludes this weekend with three games, all of which can be seen on MISL Live (www.misllivesoccer.com), the league’s free online video service. On Friday night the Baltimore Blast host the Wichita Wings at 1st Mariner Arena before the Wings move on to meet the Norfolk SharX on Sunday afternoon at Norfolk Scope Arena. The Blast also conclude their regular season on Sunday as they face the Syracuse Silver Knights at the Oncenter War Memorial.
The following weekend, the MISL Playoffs open as the Rochester Lancers and Baltimore Blast meet in the Eastern Division Finals, the Blast hosting Game 1 on Saturday, March 10 with the Lancers hosting Game 2 on Monday, March 12, and the Missouri Comets and Milwaukee Wave meet in the Central Division Finals, the Comets hosting Game 1 on Friday, March 9 and the Wave hosting Game 2 on Sunday, March 11. All four games will be aired on MISL Live.