So I was being queried as to why I don’t provide coverage of Indoor Soccer on this site, or more specifically, Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) coverage. It is surprising, given that one of my earliest introductions to the sport was as a season ticket holder for the inaugural St Louis Steamer’s squad that included Carl Rose (pictured coaching a Springfield SC youth team), one of The Finest ball players I’ve ever had the pleasure of rooting for. Sweetness. Springfield also has at least two former MISL Referees that are still major contributors to the sport here in Jeff Kohlmeyer and Kelly Ross.
The best first step is to touch bases with Matt Caution, who is in his 8th season of professional play, the last 3 as a member of the California Cougars, a Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) team based in Stockton, CA. A he’s a St Louis native who is the Missouri State Bear’s career scoring leader, holding records for points (125), goals (46), assists (33) and game-winners (12) established during his four year career between 1993-1997. That’s him on the left (above), with Coach Leamy and Doug Lascody (MSU 2004) at the MSU Team Camp in July 2005, the summer before Caution joined the Cougars from the St Louis Steamers.
Matt’s now a defender and was featured in an article in Stockton last November
“He’s blue-collar,” Hall said. “He leads by example as opposed to just talking. He leaves it on the field. It’s fun to bang heads with him in practice and I’ve learned a lot from him.”
The Cougars are currently 7-5, sitting in the middle of the table, with 18 games remaining. There will be several opportunities to see Matt & the Cougars play in the coming weeks. Fox Soccer Channel broadcasts an MISL game every Friday night and the Cougars will be featured on the following nights:
February 15th, 10pm, California Cougars vs Chicago Storm
February 22nd, 7pm, California Cougars vs NJ Ironmen
February 29th, 7 pm, California Cougars vs Detroit Ignition
March 28th, 7pm, California Cougars vs Chicago Storm
Tonight you can the Baltimore Blast vs the NJ Ironmen. Do you have a favorite MISL team?
Oh how I miss the MISL. I too was a season ticket holder, albeit for the Kansas City Attack/Comets.
Couple familiar names will be playing on the FSC game tonight: Tony Meola being the biggest, but also Gordon Kljestan, brother of US National Teamer Sacha.
And it looks like Matt has a fellow Missourian on the team — Craig Scheer from Cape Girardeau. As far as I can tell, these are the only two Missourians in the MISL — surely a result of Kansas City and St. Louis losing their teams.
Matt had a goal and an assist on Saturday. He also put on the goalkeeper jersey for more than a minute.