Chicago Force women's pro football team head coach and aspiring artist Jim Stahl started to piece together his foundation back in January. Stahl's team was on exhibit last Saturday afternoon at Lane Stadium. With 500 family, friends and loyal supporters in attendance for the final regular season viewing, the women of the gridiron painted the Kansas City Storm all over the field enroute to a 28-0 victory.
Quarterback Angie Bandstra opened up the scoring with a one-yard keeper up the middle. RB Linda Bache made the score 12-0 with a one-yard run. Bandstra scampered around the right end for the 2-point conversion. The Force took a 14-0 lead into the lockerroom.
Bache, who also starts at safety, had a monster game, rushing five times for 26 yards, catching a 20-yard pass, recording three interceptions, highlighted by a 30-yarder. RB Teresa Simon carried the ball three straight times at the start of the third quarter. Bandstra then hooked up with RB Jessica McPeake for a 41-yard TD strike. McPeake added the 2-point conversion. Simon closed out the scoring with a 6-yard run, finished the day with 65 yards on 9 carries. Simon and Bridget Manabat did a nice job filling in for injured starter Melissa Smith. Manabat added 30 yards on 4 carries. WR Tashaunda Shumpert turned in the most dazzling run of the day. After taking a handoff in the backfield from Bandstra, it appeared Shump would be thrown for a loss. Instead, using fancy footwork, she ran 45 yards to set up Chicago's last touchdown.
The Force defense once again stepped up, shutting out the Storm for the second consecutive week. Co-Captain Pam Schaffrath had nine tackles. Schffrath has proven to be the hardest hitting linebacker in the league. The usual suspects taking care of business on D included: Jennifer Dulski, Becky Thuestad, Erica Bell- Coleman, Amanda Malsch, Keesha Brooks. DB Debbie Sanchez had her first interception of the year. Christine Wheeler and Teresa Sochacki were solid on special teams.
Chicago finished the regular season with a 6-2 record, second place in the Midwest division of the IWFL. With a wild-card playoff berth, the team will travel to Detroit July 8 to take on the division champion Demolition. Coach Stahl hopes that the third time is a charm in the biggest game of the season. 'Obviously it's difficult to beat a team three times,' explained Stahl. 'If we execute to our potential I'm confident that we can beat the Demolition,' he added.
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