Saving Grace (An Update)
It’s been just over a month since I wrote about the strange statistical totals coming out of the Major Indoor Soccer League’s teams in Chicago and Syracuse, where their goalkeepers – particularly Chicago’s Jeff Richey – were being credited with record-breaking (and near-historic) numbers of saves.
At that time, a league official told me they would have a talk with the teams to remind them of statistical standards. Based on numbers over the last month, it looks like Syracuse got the message, while Chicago ignored it.
In Chicago’s 8-6 loss to the Missouri Comets last night, Richey made a remarkable 34 saves on 38 shots. The saves total was his second-highest of the season (behind the league-record 45 he recorded against Syracuse on January 4) and the second-highest by an MISL goalie this season. In fact, Richey has five of the top six save performances in the league this season, and eight of the top ten have happened in Chicago.
| 45 | 01/04/2013 | Richey | Chicago | vs Syracuse |
| 34 | 02/27/2013 | Richey | Chicago | vs Missouri |
| 33 | 01/18/2013 | Richey | Chicago | vs Milwaukee |
| 30 | 12/14/2012 | Vorberg | Milwaukee | at Chicago |
| 29 | 01/21/2013 | Richey | Chicago | vs Wichita |
| 28 | 01/11/2013 | Richey | Chicago | vs Baltimore |
| 27 | 02/18/2013 | Vorberg | Milwaukee | at Chicago |
| 27 | 01/27/2013 | Pardo | Missouri | at Rochester |
| 27 | 11/30/2012 | O’Quinn | Syracuse | vs Missouri |
| 26 | 01/18/2013 | Vorberg | Milwaukee | at Chicago |
| 26 | 11/24/2012 | Richey | Chicago | at Syracuse |
| 26 | 12/27/2012 | Feenstra | Milwaukee | at Rochester |
| 26 | 02/01/2013 | Waltman | Missouri | vs Rochester |
And while the average starting MISL goalie makes every so slightly more saves per game at home, Richey is making nearly twice as many saves at home as on the road (in 12 road games, he’s been credited with 155 saves – 12.92 per game; at home, he’s been credited with 296 saves in 12 games – 24.67 per game, nearly double the road rate).
Since I let the league know about this, the number of combined shots per game in Syracuse has gone down about 10 percent (from about 46 per game to about 41). But games in Chicago – which averaged 52.9 shots per game before – have averaged 53.0 shots per game since. In short, they’re not paying attention.
I’m told Chicago – which has a good team that’s playing well and can make the playoffs with a win Friday night over Syracuse – opted to lay off their dance team as a cost-cutting measure, and that players and front office workers staged a week-long work stoppage because they weren’t getting paid. Add in a coaching change and a recent incident where players went into the stands after a fan they claimed hurled racist taunts at the Soul’s Tijani Ayegbusi and it’s been an eventful year in Chicago.
Meanwhile, they’re averaging an announced 2,366 fans per game (with two games not yet reported), last in the league and not even close to what they’re actually drawing, if scenes like this one (sent in by an alert reader) are the norm.
As we’ve seen, the numbers just don’t add up. Chicago’s chances in the playoffs (where they’d play top-seed Baltimore, against whom they’re 2-2 this season) would seem to be slightly better than their chances of returning for a second season.
Tags: indoor soccer, MISL, soccer, stats, stuff only I care about
February 28th, 2013 at 9:02 am
Just read this article. Who are your sources? You mention that the team and front office staff had a week long work stoppage beacuse of non-payment. How do you know that. You dont have to name names, but just curious where you get this info from.
February 28th, 2013 at 9:07 am
Someone with knowledge of the situation who I trust.
February 28th, 2013 at 9:14 am
are they with the organization? The league? the arena? Again, no names needed, just curiousity.
February 28th, 2013 at 9:18 am
Sorry, I can’t give you more. It’s someone who is in a position to know and who I trust.
In any case, the situation must have been resolved for the players to play and the staff to work.
February 28th, 2013 at 6:19 pm
Easy there, Rick Dell….if you know Kenn, you know that he’s a pro, and doesn’t bullshit sources…
February 28th, 2013 at 6:32 pm
If I were going to write a big exposé with the headline, “Big Trouble For Indoor Team’s Finances,” I would do a hell of a lot more reporting and sourcing. But it’s one line in a blog post about how clueless they are about stats. It’s a throwaway line.
Not to mention the fact that if you say, “Hey, an indoor soccer team is having money problems,” the response would likely be, “Duh.”
Considering 22 of the last 27 indoor expansion teams have failed, this wouldn’t be earth-shattering. An 81 percent failure rate means there’s a bigger systemic issue and it’s not just about the Chicago Soul.
March 1st, 2013 at 10:45 pm
Now it’s just ridiculous. Someone named Nathaniel Sprenkel made 20 saves for Chicago tonight. On 23 shots. And the Soul had 12 blocks. Oy.
March 3rd, 2013 at 5:52 pm
Considering the crowd in that photo, they should be called the Chicago “Sole”…;)
March 5th, 2013 at 7:51 am
It’s odd that Nathaniel Sprenkel was credited with 20 saves for the Soul Friday night when Jeff Richey was playing in goal for the Soul that evening.
March 5th, 2013 at 9:10 am
And Brian O’Quinn had 27 saves. Oy.
For some reason the video of that game is not available on-demand. Did this game make the interwebs? Or was that a cost-cutting measure as well?
Oh, well. Nathaniel Sprenkel will live forever in the stats, and Richey misses out on another 20 saves.
March 5th, 2013 at 9:19 am
Oh, wait, my bad. They’ve changed it to Richey now. Originally they had Sprenkel.
So Richey finishes with 155 saves in 12 road games (12.92 per game) and 316 saves in 13 home games (24.31 per game).
March 6th, 2013 at 11:24 am
Richey made another 26 saves in the playoff game. Oy.
http://www.pointstreak.com/prostats/boxscore.html?gameid=2161878