Rockford Thunder to visit MISL's Chicago Storm

The Rockford Thunder of the American Indoor Soccer League and Chicago Storm of the Major Indoor Soccer League have announced an exhibition "friendly" at the Sears Centre, capacity 9,500, in Hoffman Estates, IL, on February 13, 2007.

The game will have a special 10AM kickoff for the Storm's annual "School Day" event. The matinee is part of the "Storming Schools" campaign, sponsored by the team and the Daily Herald newspaper. The event features a special program stressing the importance of education tied to a fun interactive experience featuring reading, math, history, and geography.

The morning's game highlights two of the top clubs in indoor soccer. The Thunder is currently atop the AISL, and the Storm not far behind in the MISL standings. The match will be the fifth time that clubs in the MISL and AISL have faced each other. In October 2004, the Cleveland Force swept the Cincinnati Excite in a pre-season "home and home" series. One year later, the Excite lost 10-1 to the St. Louis Steamers, and in 2006, the Excite fell 16-2 to the MISL's Detroit Ignition.

"This will be a very important day for the AISL," said commissioner Paul Lapointe. "Both teams are at their top in-season form, and it will be a good barometer to see how the level of play matches up."

The two teams do have some common ties. Thunder co-owner Oscar Albuquerque and head coach Jeff Kraft both served with the Storm as assistant coaches in the Storm's inaugural season of 2004-05 under then-head coach Frank Klopas.

Said Kraft, "My players are very excited, and I expect we will put on a great show for the fans."

For information on the Rockford Thunder, contact team president Oscar Albuquerque at (877) 507-5840 or at brazilusasoccer@onebox.net. For information on the American Indoor Soccer League, contact director of media relations Rich Paschette at (216) 337-4465 or AISLPR@aol.com. For the Chicago Storm, contact director of media relations Brian Bauer at (224) 653-GOAL or bbauer@chicagostorm.net.