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“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 is a class organization from the top down, and they are a team that the league can be very proud of.” The Rampage held a 3-2 lead after the first quarter, and never looked back, extending the lead to 8-2 at the half. The outcome was never in doubt after that. “We had a good game. Everyone knew what they had to do, and did it,” said AISL Coach of the Year Jeff Kraft. “I give all credit to the Twisters. They never stopped fighting, but we played like we were on a mission.” “I tell these guys that we’re a family and we play for each other, and this game showed what can happen when we’re all playing together. Novi (Marojevic), Bato (Radoncic), (Erik) Lukin, Mikey (Rigas)...everyone contributed.” “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.” 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. The Rampage finished with a 13-1 record, while the defending champion Twisters went 7-8.
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Saturday evening, the Rockford Rampage put an explanation point on their dominating 2008 campaign, crushing the Massachusetts Twisters 18-5 to take home the American Indoor Soccer League Cup before a capacity crowd of 700 at the Victory Sports Complex in Loves Park, IL.