Outrage split long weekend on the road

Story courtesy TKO Public Relations

Kalamazoo, MI (June 2, 2008) - The Kalamazoo Outrage return home to Mayors Riverfront Park this weekend after a gruelling 3 day road trip this past weekend that saw them clock up over 1000 miles.

First stop was Charleston, WV to match up with the West Virginia Chaos, a side that the Outrage had tied 0-0 with on season-opening night 3 weeks ago. A "breathtaking" first half performance was how Outrage Head Coach Stu Riddle described it as the Outrage shot out to a 3-0 lead with strikes from Alan McGreal, Eric Alexander and Mark Briggs.

Fighting some questionable refereeing decisions, which included the Chaos being awarded 2 penalty kicks while Outrage keeper Mitch Hildebrandt was sent off for am innocuous challenge, the Outrage held on to win 3-2 to head into Sunday's match in Cleveland with a 3-1-1 record. "I was very proud of the team to get the 3 points in adverse conditions. The players kept their heads when it would have been easy to lose it with the officials". To add to an already panicky situation the referee added an additional 5 minutes of injury time with both sides at that stage playing with 10 men.

Cleveland shot out to a 1-0 lead after 4 minutes during Sunday's match but Alan McGreal's wonder goal levelled things for the Outrage at the 30 minute mark. Tom Oatley, Dan Bulley Chase Corricelli and McGreal all missed gilt-edged chances to put the Outrage in front before Cleveland striker Steve Zakuani stole the show scoring 3 late goals to add to his one in the first half.

Riddle was extremely disappointed with his players at full time "We knew a win would put us top of our division yet we were wasteful with chances. At this level you will get punished and we get punished heavily when making defensive errors yet continually let the other team off when we have chances to bury the game".

The next Outrage match against the Indiana Invaders will kick off at 7pm on Friday June 6th and will be played at Mayor's Riverfront Stadium in downtown Kalamazoo. The Outrage will follow up Friday's match with another home game on Sunday June 8th against the Cincinnati Kings with kick off set for 3pm.

"We've already beaten both opponents this season and this is a big weekend for us at home. The pressure is on to perform and achieve the desired results for our home fans" said Riddle.

Tickets can be purchased at the gate with children aged 6-13 being charged $2, adults 14 and up $3.