NEWS RELEASE
April 7, 2006

ROOKS HOST SALINAS SAMBA SATURDAY NIGHT

Kick-Off 14th Season in National Premier Soccer League

This weekend the Chico Rooks will kick-off their 14th season as they host the Salinas Valley Samba on Saturday, April 8th at 5:00 at Community Park located off 20th Street.  This game will be free to the public due to the late game change, so bring your own lawn chairs, food and drinks.

Last year the Rooks and Samba faced each other three times resulting in a win, a loss and a draw for each club. Both the Rooks and Samba qualified for post-season play as they finished in third and fourth place in the conference. However, both teams were eliminated in the first round of the play-offs as Chico fell to the Sonoma Sol and Salinas was downed by the Sacramento Knights.

Rooks head coach David Stahl, returning for his14th year at the helm, indicated the Rooks will have a solid core of returning players and several promising newcomers. A total of 14 players from last years squad will return for the 2006 campaign, including 2005 NPSL All-Stars Joao Macedo and Calum Robertson. Also returning for Chico, will be goalkeeper, Nick Clark, who led the Fort Lewis Skyhawks to the 2005 NCAA Division II National Championship and midfielder, Joe Munoz, formerly with the Metro Stars of of Major League Soccer (MLS) .

New to the Rooks line-up will be Mario Castillo, a Gridley High School graduate. “Mario was a walk-on at tryouts and immediately impressed the staff,” said Stahl, “he has great technique and vision and plays with both pace and tenacity.”

The Rooks will play in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) that has expanded the Western Division from seven teams in 2005 to twelve this season. Western expansion teams include the Redwood City Ruckus, San Jose Frogs, SD Fusion, Phoenix Banat Storm and the Denver Kickers.

Asked about the possibility of playing in wet weather this weekend Stahl replied, “In spite of the weather conditions our six weeks of pre-season training has been exceptional. We are enthusiastic and ready to play the Samba regardless of the conditions, rain or shine.”
 

CHICO ROOKS

PRESS RELEASE

For immediate release April 9, 2006

ROOKS BLANK SAMBA IN OPENER

Ratzurg’s Early Strike Gives Chico 1 – 0 Win

On Saturday afternoon the Chico Rooks, kicked off their 2006 National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) campaign with a hard fought 1 – 0 win over the visiting Salinas Valley Samba at 20th Street Community Park.  

Forward Keith Ratzburg netted the lone goal of the match in the 4th minute of play as he received a through ball on the left side from Calum Robertson and beat Thomas Hernandez, the Samba keeper, from 6 yards out.  Following Ratzburg’s strike the Rooks continued to put pressure on Salinas and created several good scoring opportunities but were unable to convert.

Midway through the first half the Samba came to life and the momentum of the game changed.  Nick Clark, the Rooks keeper made several spectacular saves denying Salinas the equalizer.  “Nick made severl big saves for us today, he was the player of the match,” said Rooks head coach David Stahl.  Clark, the Rooks back up keeper in 2005, just completed his senior year at Fort Lewis Collge where he led the Skyhawks to the 2005 NCAA Division II National Championship with 14 shutouts.

Chico regained the momentum in the second frame as they were able to stifle the Samba attack and kept the ball on the Salinas side of the pitch for the majority of the half. “Our back four did a much better job of marking the Salinas forwards in the second half,” said Stahl.  Salinas made things difficult for the Rooks as they created several chances as they pushed forward in the waning momentsof the game.  However, the Rooks defense held and Chico earned the 1 – 0 victory.

“It was not a pretty game,” said Ratzburg,”but ugly doesn’t matter when you get the win.  It’s huge to get that type of result to open up the season.”    Overall, the Rooks tallied 11 shots to 15 for the Samba.  Clark earned the shutout and had 10 saves for Chico while Hernandez recorded 6 saves for Salinas.

The game was played at 20th Street Community Park rather than the Soccer Stadium on the Chico State campus as the University said the field was closed to weather conditions.    “Unfortunatley, by playing at 20th Street we had  to give up home field advantage and didn’t have the fan support we would have at the stadium,” said Stahl, “but the important thing is we played the game and got the victory.”

The Rooks will be at home again next week as they host the Redwood City Ruckus on Friday night at 7:30 at the Soccer Stadium on the Chico State campus. 

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