KiXX host California Wednesday, February 7
February 5, 2007 - Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2)
Philadelphia KiXX News Release
Philadelphia, PA, February 5, 2007 - The Philadelphia KiXX (10-7) prepare for the club's annual school day game Wednesday, February 7 against the California Cougars. Game time is slated for 10:35 am ET with the action available live via webcast at www.wmssfm.com. Philadelphia looks to get back on the winning track after two straight losses in a home-and-home series against the Baltimore Blast. The KiXX have off for ten days until they travel to California on February 17 for a 9:00 pm ET match.
This Week's Itinerary:
Monday, February 5, Light Training, Tri-States Sports, 10:00am to 12:00pm
Tuesday, February 6, Training, Wachovia Spectrum, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm
Wednesday, February 7, California Cougars, Wachovia Spectrum, 10:35am ET
Thursday, February 8, Off
Friday, February 9, Off
Saturday, February 10, Off
Sunday, February 11, Off
*all times are Eastern and subject to change
Injury Report:
Player Injury Status
John Nusum Quad Questionable
Drew Kopp Toe Questionable
Don D'Ambra Hamstring Questionable
Shawn Boney Lower Back Out
KiXX vs. Cougars
2006-07 Series: 2-1 (home 1-0, away 1-1) Overall: 6-3 (home 3-1, away 3-2)
Wednesday's contest between the KiXX and the Cougars will be the fourth of six meetings between the two clubs this season ... the KiXX dropped the first game of the regular season in California on November 5 by a score of 13-12 ... Bernie Lilavois scored for the Cougars with just five-seconds left, while Pat Morris and rookie Tony Donatelli recorded five-points each for the KiXX ... on November 26 in California, the KiXX avenged the season opener with a 14-10 victory ... the Cougars visited the Wachovia Spectrum on December 2, where the KiXX put on an offensive display outscoring California 26-2 ... Donatelli had his break out game of the season, recording nine points on four goals ... the second-year club out of Stockton, CA is led by player-coach Bernie Lilavois, who leads the team with 18 assists and ranks third with 40 points ... Vincente Figueroa leads the Cougars in points (46) and goals (17), despite playing in only 14 of the club's 20 games this season ... Dominik Jakubek minds the net for California with a record of 2-10 and a 16.70 PAA. -more-
California Killers: Philadelphia Rookie Tony Donatelli has led Philadelphia to two victories in three games against the Cougars this season with 16 points ... Donatelli has both of his three-point goals on the season against California, while also recording a season and team high nine-points in the KiXX 26-6 rout of the Cougars on December 2 at the Wachovia Spectrum ... the KiXX defeated the Cougars in Stockton, CA on November 26 14-10 behind John Barry Nusum's five-point effort ... in three games vs. California this season, Donatelli has seven goals for 16 points, followed by defender Pat Morris who has two goals for seven points ... player-coach Don D'Ambra, Nusum, and midfielder Ptah Myers have all contributed six points each in the three games ... keeper Peter Pappas has a 2-1 record vs. the Cougars with a 9.67 PAA.
Back-to-Back Contests: This past weekend's back-to-back set marked the third of seven occasions in which the team will compete in two games in the same number of days ... the club dropped the series opener versus the Baltimore Blast at 1st Mariner Arena on February 2 by a score of 19-12 ... the home-and-home set concluded with a visit from the Blast on February 3 at the Wachovia Spectrum, where the Blast swept the series by a score of 16-8 ... 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, 12-19 2/3 vs. Baltimore L, 8-16
2/24 vs. Milwaukee 7:05 pm 2/25 at Detroit 4:35 pm
3/10 at Chicago 2:00 pm 3/11 at Milwaukee 2:00 pm
2/24 vs. Baltimore 7:05 pm 2/25 at Milwaukee 2:00 pm
3/30 at Baltimore 7:35 pm 3/31 vs. Detroit 7:05 pm
*all times are Eastern and subject to change
Leading the Way: Player/coach Don D'Ambra has paced the KiXX on their way to the top of the MISL Standings ... the KiXX are 10-4 when D'Ambra records at least one point ... D'Ambra leads the KiXX in points (47), goals (17), assists (12), and power-play goals (5) ... the 11-year veteran is fourth in the MISL in points, tied in fifth in goals (17), and tied for first in first-goals (5) ... during the weekend of December 29-December 31, the KiXX defeated Chicago 10-8 and Milwaukee 13-12 ... in those two games, D'Ambra played in his 450th career game, recorded his 900th career point, and tallied his 400th career goal ... D'Ambra was named Player-of-the-Week for the seven day period ending December 10.
Rivalry Brewing: With Philadelphia's January 28 win over Detroit, the KiXX have taken the lead in the season series 3-1 in four thrilling matches ... in Philadelphia's home opener on November 11, the Ignition needed overtime for their first road win in franchise history ... the KiXX returned the favor with an overtime win in Detroit on November 19 on a Tony Donatelli game-winner ... January 20 was a battle for first place, with both teams tied atop the MISL standings ... Edgar Bartolomeu's goal with 10 seconds left gave Philly lone hold over the top spot ... January 28 in Detroit was the rematch, with both teams tied for first place yet again ... after a furious comeback attempt by the Ignition, who were down 6-2 in the third quarter, two-time MVP Dino Delevski buried a three-pointer with just 45 seconds left, giving Philadelphia a 9-8 win and sole possession of first place ... the remaining two games in this season series between the clubs have the potential to be instant classics ... Philadelphia will visit Detroit once more on February 25 before the Ignition come to the Wachovia Spectrum on the last day of the regular season, March 31, in what could be a fight for the top seed in the playoffs ... off the field ties between the two teams are notable, with former KiXX General Manager Greg Bibb at the helm for Detroit ... Bibb drafted the playing rights to Philadelphia player-coach and KiXX leading scorer Don D'Ambra in the Ignition Expansion Draft, before trading D'Ambra's rights back to Philly for All-Rookie Team selection Josh Rife.
Last Week's Outing: Blast 16, KiXX 8 (2/3/07): The Philadelphia KiXX (10-7) fell to the defending Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) Champion Baltimore Blast (9-9) in the second game of a home-and-home series in front of 7,874 fans ... as of February 3, the KiXX hold just a half-game lead in the MISL standings despite eight points in two games from three-time Defender-of-the-Year Genoni Martinez ... Billy Nelson began the scoring for Baltimore with a three-pointer just 14 seconds in ... P.J. Wakefield and Giuliano Celenza added consecutive goals to put the Blast up 8-0 after one quarter of play ... with the KiXX desperately in need of the next goal, John Barry Nusum answered with his ninth goal on the season set up by Genoni Martinez ... the three-time Defender-of-the-Year Martinez has haunted the Blast this year, with 13 points in the first two meetings between the clubs ... after a Pat Morris hand ball, Lee Tschantret put Baltimore up 10-2 on a penalty kick ... Machel Millwood capitalized on a Tony Donatelli holding penalty just over two minutes into the second half giving the Blast a 12-2 lead ... Rey Martinez buried his sixth of the year just one minute later to put Baltimore up by 12 ... Genoni Martinez tallied his eighth goal of the season for Philadelphia on a restart, but Robbie Aristodemo spread Baltimore's lead to 12 once more on his eighth of the season, 16-4 ... Philadelphia began their fourth quarter comeback on a goal from rookie Tony Donatelli with the helper from Dino Delevski ... Donatelli returned the favor less than a minute later on Delevski's eighth ... the effort wasn't enough for Philly, who drop to 4-5 at the Wachovia Spectrum.
Last Week's Outing: Blast 19, KiXX 12 (2/2/07): The top-seeded Philadelphia KiXX (10-7) fell to the defending Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) Champion Baltimore Blast (9-9) in the first game of a home-and-home series this past weekend ... the club took the loss in their first visit to 1st Mariner Arena February 2, 19-12, despite 11-combined points from player/coach Don D'Ambra and three-time Defender-of-the-Year Genoni Martinez ... Martinez picked up right where he left off the last time Baltimore and Philadelphia faced off by burying a three-pointer just 14 seconds into the match ... the three-time Defender-of-the-Year Martinez recorded eight points against Baltimore on January 14 in the KiXX 16-8 win ... the assist came from player-coach Don D'Ambra, who went on to put the KiXX up 5-0 on his team-leading 16th goal of the season, assist from who else but Martinez ... reigning MISL MVP Aduato Neto scored his first goal of the season after recovering from a knee injury to put the Blast on the board, 5-2 ... Baltimore came out firing in the second quarter taking the lead on back-to-back goals from Matt Watson and Machel Millwood ... D'Ambra hammered home his second goal of the night to put the KiXX up by one point, but not before the Blast scored back-to-back goals for the second time from Celenza and Denison Cabral to take the lead, 10-7 ... Ptah Myers scored his seventh goal of the season with 37 seconds left in the half from D'Ambra to go into the locker room down just one, 10-9 ... Martinez and D'Ambra combined for 11 points in the first half, while Philadelphia was outs hot 24-6 ... the Blast extended their lead in the third quarter to 14-9 with goals from Matt Watson and Machel Millwood, his second ... after a too many men call on the Blast bench, John Barry Nusum capitalized on the power-play with his eighth on the season, a three-point goal to pull the KiXX to within two, 14-12 ... the effort wasn't enough for Philadelphia, as Millwood completed the hat trick for the Blast and Robbie Aristodemo added an empty net goal versus the 6th attacker ... Philadelphia was out shot 32-12 in the loss.
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Major Indoor Soccer League 2 Stories from February 5, 2007
- MISL names players of the week - MISL 2
- Ignition weekly - Detroit Ignition
- KiXX host California Wednesday, February 7 - Philadelphia KiXX
- Baltimore Blast News and Notes - Baltimore Blast
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