Rampage Beat Twisters in Final

Avenge Loss from Last Year

March 16, 2008

LOVES PARK, Ill. – The Massachusetts Twisters’ bid for a second straight American Indoor Soccer League title fell short last night in a 18-5 drumming at the hands of the Rockford Rampage, who won the cup in a rematch of last year’s AISL final.

The Rampage held a 3-2 lead after the first quarter, and never looked back, extending the lead to 8-2 at the half.

“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.”

AISL Most Valuable Player Dimitri Meletis took the win in goal for the Rampage, and Adam Perron took the loss for the Twisters.

“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.”

Including tonight’s game, the Rampage finished with a record of 13-1. The Twisters final record for this season is 7-8.

Saturday’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 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.