Saturday night the Orlando Sharks hosted a playoff bound Chicago Storm team for their final game of the MISL season.  After honoring Teacher of the Year award winners from surrounding area school districts, Orlando kicked off Fan Appreciation Night at the Amway Arena.  The Storm struck first three minutes into the game on an unassisted goal by forward Benjamin Chavolla.  Then, with just under nine minutes left in first quarter, Orlando forward Mauricio Ruiz broke away for two points.  Chicago went ahead again with five and a half minutes  remaining on a goal by forward Ian Bennett but Orlando forward Shawn Boney chipped in a final Sharks goal a minute later to tie the game at four points a piece after one quarter of play. 

Chicago started the scoring nine minutes into the second quarter with a three point shot by midfielder John Ball.  Less than a minute later Orlando midfielder Miki Djerisilo put a free kick into the Storm net from outside the arc for three Sharks points.  With two and a half minutes left in the half, Orlando forward Felipe Lawall put the Sharks up by two points to lead the Storm at halftime, 9-7. 

Just shy of two minutes into the third quarter, Sharks midfielder Miki Djerisilo put his second free kick of the night into the Storm net, this time on an Orlando power play.  Chicago midfielder Matt Stewart answered with a power play goal of his own with three and a half minutes left in the quarter.  After three quarters of play, the Sharks led the Storm, 11-9.

Forward Felipe Lawall assisted forward Mauricio Ruiz for his second goal of the night, sealing the Sharks victory with seven minutes to go in the game.  Chicago would attempt to add a sixth attacker in the final minutes but to no avail as the Sharks beat the Storm by a score of 13-9 in their final meeting of the season. 

Heading into Sunday night’s game, Orlando was primed and ready to secure their winning record against California this season. Likewise, former Cougar Matt Caution flew into town with one purpose: to defeat his former team. It was the Cougars who wound up biting first via a power play goal by defenseman Antonio Sutton, assisted by forward Enrique Tovar just over a minute into the game. The two teams battled for possession the remainder of the quarter until California midfielder Franck M’Embra kicked a two point goal, assisted by fellow midfielder Majell Aterado with under a minute left. With just six seconds remaining, defenseman Antonio Sutton struck again, this time assisted by forward Bernie Lilavois. The first quarter ended with a score of California 6, Orlando 0.

The second quarter was all California as well. Cougars midfielder Semir Mesanovic was able to shoot his own rebound past Paul Nagy with just over four minutes remaining for a two point goal, followed shortly after by midfielder Franck M’Embra as he scored his second goal of the night. By halftime, Orlando found themselves down 10-0 to California.

The Sharks started off the second half successfully outscoring the Cougars, earning their first two points on a goal by midfielder Damien Pottinger, assisted by defender Anthony Santiago five minutes into the third quarter. Then, with just under a minute left in the quarter, forward Jorge Valle added two points with the help of an assist by forward Chris Cerroni. This enabled the Sharks to inch back within a half dozen points of the Cougars, ending the third quarter down 10-4.

California opened up the fourth quarter with force on a three point shot by midfielder Majell Aterado, assisted by midfielder Franck M’Embra. Then, with about ten minutes to go in the game, California defenseman Antonio Sutton and Orlando midfielder Miki Djerisilo got into a heated exchange that earned them each a yellow card. Orlando defender Ainsley Romany buckled down and scored two Sharks points seconds later. The Cougars answered with a goal by midfielder Aaron Bonser, assisted by Brian Farber, followed shortly after with another three point shot, this time by forward Enrique Tovar with three minutes left in the fourth quarter. Though Orlando would close out the scoring on a goal by forward Felipe Lawall, assisted by midfielder Miki Djerisilo, they lost the contest to California by a score of 18-8.

The Sharks split the season series with the Cougars down the middle, 2-2. On a night when Orlando had hoped rack up the points on a team they’ve have success against all season, they wound up racking up penalties, earning five blue cards and a yellow. They end the season at home against the Chicago Storm on Saturday, April 5 at 7:35 pm.

Though the thought of clinching a payoff berth for the 2007-2008 season has long since vanished for the Sharks, the idea of disrupting the powerful Milwaukee Wave’s season was at the top of every Orlando player's mind this Easter Sunday.  The Sharks burst out with a vengeance, scoring their first two points on a line shot by forward Felipe Lawall.  Just two minutes later the mammoth forward Shawn Boney dove headfirst to drive a rebound back into the Wave net with his shiny dome, providing a grand show for all those present in the Shark Tank.  With less than two minutes left in the first, forward Damien Pottinger would finalize the impressive Shark start by driving home an Anthony Santiago assist to leave the score Orlando 6, Wave 0 after one quarter of play.

The second quarter would see a dozen minutes go by with relatively little action until the Wave unleashed a tidal onslaught with six minutes to go, scoring a half dozen points to match the Sharks total in under a minute.  Milwaukee midfielder Marcio Leite would begin the attack with an unassisted two-point goal, followed thirty seconds later by Defender Joe Hammes, assisted by forward Warren Ukah.  With 5:05 left, just 55 seconds after the first strike, Wave forward Guiliano Oliviero would cap the minute long blitz with a goal assisted by forward Gregg Howes.  The Sharks briefly jumped back ahead on a two point goal by forward Xavier Delgado aided by Muricio Ruiz, only to have the Wave tie it back up twenty seconds later on a two point score by defender Lovelace Ackah.  Before the half was over the Wave would inch ahead on a power play goal by midfielder Marcelo Fontana.  The half ended with the Wave ahead 10 to 8.

By the third quarter the Milwaukee engine was warmed up and at operating temperature, as was evident by the eleven-point total they put on the board.  It started three minutes in with Wave forward Warren Ukah scoring his first two points of the night.  Fifteen seconds later Wave forward Anthony Maher would play off an assist by defender Jonathan Santos for an incredibly acrobatic two point score.  Orlando midfielder Miki Djerisilo would score the Sharks' only two points of the third on a beautifully placed free kick into the upper corner of the Wave goal with six and a half left in the quarter.  Shortly thereafter, Milwaukee defender Troy Dusosky assisted forward Gregg Howes for a three-point blast.  The Wave would close out the final four minutes of the third with two goals by forward Brett Wiesner, one assisted by defenseman; the other assisted by midfielder Marcelo Fontana.  When the dust settled, the Wave had increased thier lead to 21-10 over Orlando.  

The final quarter of play saw the Sharks simply trying to minimize the damage inflicted by one of the league’s top two teams.  The Wave would score three minutes in on a nifty pass and shoot goal by Wave midfielder Fontana and midfielder Leite respectively.  Then, with two and a half minutes left, Milwaukee touched the quarter century mark on a goal by midfielder Fontana.  The final score was Milwaukee 25, Orlando 10.