KiXX finish regular season with 17 wins

April 2, 2007 - Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2)
Philadelphia KiXX News Release


Philadelphia, PA, April 2, 2007 - The Philadelphia KiXX (17-13) split the club's weekend set against Baltimore and Detroit in their final two games of the regular season. Against the Blast on Friday, March 30, Philadelphia won by a score of 13-12 in yet another KiXX comeback as Sandre Naumoski scored the game-winning goal with 40 seconds remaining. The club then welcomed the expansion Detroit Ignition to the Wachovia Spectrum on March 31, dropping the battle for first place 10-9. Player/coach Don D'Ambra extended his point streak to eight games over the weekend, while recording three goals and one assist.

Number three seed Philadelphia will host either Detroit or Chicago on April 14 at the Wachovia Spectrum. The Chicago Storm, winners of seven consecutive games, will host the Milwaukee Wave this Saturday, April 7 in the final game of the MISL regular season. If the Storm beat the Wave by at least five points, they overtake Detroit, setting up a KiXX-Ignition series. If Chicago does not cover, the KiXX will take on the Storm, who would take the number two seed. Philadelphia's home game on the 14th will be at either 4:05pm or 7:05pm ET, pending a League-wide network deal with Versus. The semifinal series consists of two games, and in the case of a tie, a one-goal, sudden-death "Golden Goal" to be played immediately following the end of Game 2. Versus will broadcast the one game MISL Championship Final from Detroit at 4:00pm ET on Saturday, April 21.

This Week's Itinerary:

Monday, April 2, Off Day

Tuesday, April 3, Training, Tri-State Sports, 10:00am to 12:00pm

Wednesday, April 4, Training, Tri-State Sports, 10:00am to 12:00pm

Thursday, April 5, Training, Tri-State Sports, 10:00am to 12:00pm

Friday, April 6, Training, Tri-State Sports, 10:00am to 12:00pm

Saturday, April 7, Off Day

Sunday, April 8, Off Day

*all times are Eastern and subject to change

Injury Report: Injury Status

Drew Kopp Groin Questionable

Possible Playoff Opponents: Chicago currently holds the number two seed in the MISL standings, and with a loss to Milwaukee on April 7 will be the KiXX first round opponent ... the Storm and KiXX both have 9-6 road records, tops in the MISL, while Chicago's power play executes at a League best 53.2%, and the KiXX boast the best penalty killing unit at 62.3% ... Storm rookie Stephen Armstrong leads the Storm with 72 points on 30 goals ... Mark Ughy follows with 28 goals and 71 points despite playing in just 23 games this season while recovering from a knee injury ... in net, keeper Jim Larkin has started 20 of 29 games sporting a 10-11 record and an 11.12 PAA ... Glascow, Scotland native Steve Morris leads the Storm in his first year as head coach ... Detroit currently holds the top spot in the MISL and a Chicago win by five points next week would mean a Detroit-Philadelphia first round ... the Ignition hold the best home record in the League, 11-4 and a first round win would mean home-field advantage in the MISL Championship game on April 21 ... Jamar Beasley leads the MISL in goals (40) and points (107), though Philly's defense has kept Beasley in check for the most part, allowing only three goals ... Carlos Farias has been trouble for the KiXX this season, recording 19 points in six games ... Farias has 19 goals for 58 points in 26 games this season ... in net, keeper Sanaldo sports a 13-11 record and a 10.85 PAA ... first-year coach Mark Pulisic played eight seasons with the Harrisburg Heat.

2006-07 Regular Season Review: After a one-year hiatus, the KiXX are back in the playoffs with a 17-13 record after a 10-20 mark in 2005-06 ... the KiXX finished the season with the best road record (9-6), and best penalty kill unit (62.3%) ... individual leaders:

Goals: Don D'Ambra - 32 Assists : Genoni Martinez - 21

Wins: Peter Pappas - 15 Shots: Genoni Martinez - 106

Three-point goals: Genoni Martinez - 8 Two-point goals: Don D'Ambra - 29

Points: Don D'Ambra - 85 Blocks: Pat Morris - 35

Power-play goals: Don D'Ambra - 8 Game-Winning Goals: John Barry Nusum - 4

Back-to-Back Contests: This past weekend's back-to-back set marked the seventh time in which the team competed in two games in the same number of days during the regular season ... the club began the series with a March 30 over Baltimore at the 1st Mariner Arena, 13-12 ... the club concluded the set at the Wachovia Spectrum against Detroit with a 10-9 loss ... the club finishes the season with a 6-8 record when competing in back-to-back games ... here is the club's schedule of back-to-back games this season and their results in each:

Date Opponent W/L* Date Opponent W/L*

12/9 vs. Chicago L, 4-10 12/10 vs. Chicago W, 16-13

1/27 vs. Chicago L, 2-6 1/28 at Detroit W, 9-8

2/2 at Baltimore L, 19-12 2/3 vs. Baltimore L, 16-8

2/24 vs. Milwaukee W, 24-14 2/25 at Detroit L, 22-12

3/10 at Chicago W, 18-11 3/11 at Milwaukee L, 11-7

2/24 vs. Baltimore W, 14-7 2/25 at Milwaukee L, 18-10

3/30 at Baltimore W, 13-12 3/31 vs. Detroit L, 10-9

*all times are Eastern and subject to change

Last Game: DET 10, PHI 9 (3/31/07): The Philadelphia KiXX (17-13) lost to the Detroit Ignition (18-11) in the KiXX regular season finale in front of 8,223 fans at the Wachovia Spectrum ... Carlos "Chili" Farias struck first for Detroit with his 17th of the season ... KiXX captain Pat Morris countered with his 15th goal on a feed from John Barry Nusum ... Farias scored again to begin the second quarter, his eighth goal in six games against Philadelphia alone this season ... Dino Delevski tied the match at four on a restart goal set up by three-time Defender-of-the-Year Genoni Martinez ... with the assist, Martinez extended his current point streak to 15 games ... the score at halftime, 4-4 ... rookie Worteh Sampson put Detroit back on top again 5:38 into the second half, assist by Ricardinho ... Sampson set up Ryan Mack's first goal of the season to put Detroit up four points ... Philadelphia would counter with a three-pointer from player/coach Don D'Ambra and a two-pointer from Dino Delevski, two heroes from last night's dramatic come from behind win over Baltimore ... the KiXX took their first lead of the night on Delevski's second of the night ... the KiXX comeback attempt fell short, when Sampson buried his second of the night past keeper Peter Pappas with only 2:45 left ... despite a barrage of shots from the KiXX with 6th attacker Pat Morris on the field, Ignition keeper Danny Waltman made a few tremendous saves to notch his fifth win of the season ... the win puts the expansion Detroit Ignition in first place with only one game to be played, while the KiXX are in wait-and-see mode with Chicago having two games remaining ... Drew Kopp did not dress for Philadelphia, resting a sore groin in hopes to return for the playoffs ... D'Ambra extended his own point streak to eight games with his third three-pointer of the season ... the KiXX are 7-4 all-time in regular season finales ... the club ends the 2006-07 season with an 8-7 record at home.

Recently: PHI 13, BAL 12 (3/30/07): The Philadelphia KiXX (17-12) defeated the defending Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) Champion Baltimore Blast (15-14) 13-12 in front of 8,384 fans at the 1st Mariner Arena ... midfielder Sandre Naumoski recorded the game-winning goal on a pass from Edgar Bartolomeu with only 40 seconds remaining in regulation ... Pat Morris, serving as sixth attacker, earned the victory in net for Philadelphia, while Sagu (12-10) took the loss between the posts for the Blast ... the hosting Blast took an early advantage, 2-0, as forward Lee Tschantret knocked home a pass from teammate Tarik Walker at the three-minute mark of the opening period of play ... the defending champs increased their lead to four, 4-0, when defender Mike Lookingland deposited a feed from Matt Watson into the back of the net at 9:28 ... just over a minute later (10:46), Denison Cabral and Carlos Garcia hooked up for a give-and-go to extend Baltimore's lead to 6-0 ... Garcia notched a breakaway two-point goal to lengthen the Blast advantage to eight, 8-0, at 3:48 of the second quarter ... KiXX player/coach Don D'Ambra finally ended the team's scoring drought, registering a two-point tally at 4:17 ... forward Dino Delevski cut Philadelphia's deficit in half, 8-4, connecting on a pass from D'Ambra at 9:25 of the frame ... in his first action since March 10, forward John Barry Nusum pulled the KiXX within two, 8-6, on an assist from Edgar Bartolomeu at 2:39 of the third stanza ... Baltimore quickly responded to regain their four-point advantage, 10-6, as Cabral lofted a two-point shootout goal over Pappas at 3:38; the Blast received the shootout opportunity after midfielder Sandre Naumoski was called for a two-minute holding infraction ... a mere 30 seconds later, Watson followed to extend the host's lead, 12-6, on a dish from Wendell Regis ... D'Ambra blasted home a restart pass from Delevski to cut the deficit back to four, 12-8, at 8:36 of the quarter ... three-time MISL Defender of the Year Genoni Martinez found the top corner of the net for a three-point score to pull Philadelphia within one, 12-11, at 11:01; newcomer and Philadelphia native Tony Donatelli recorded the assist on the play ... after over 14 minutes of scoreless action, Philadelphia took their first lead of the night, 13-12, as Sandre Naumoski registered a two-point restart goal on a pass from Bartolomeu with only 20 seconds remaining ... the KiXX held on to secure their berth in the 2007 MISL Playoffs ... player/Coach Don D'Ambra and forward Dino Delevski connected on three goals tonight; D'Ambra registered a pair of two-points goals from Delevski, while Delevski knocked-in one of his own from D'Ambra.



Major Indoor Soccer League 2 Stories from April 2, 2007


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