KiXX Learn Lesson in School Day Game

by David W. Unkle
February 16, 2005 - Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2)
Philadelphia KiXX


(PHILADELPHIA)---Preparation. Discipline. Focus.

Philadelphia KiXX player/coach Don D'Ambra felt that his players lacked these qualities in the team's 6-2 loss to the Milwaukee Wave.

"They beat us in every aspect of the game," said D'Ambra.

The Philadelphia KiXX, playing in front of 9,872 fans at the Wachovia Spectrum in the team's Annual School Day game, taught their young fans a hard lesson.

The KiXX jumped out to 2-0 lead and it looked like it was going to be a rout as the team scored twice within a two-minute span between the first and second quarters.

Goran Vasic recorded his 500th career point with a re-start goal at 13:53 with the KiXX playing with the man advantage.

The goal was the 16th of the year on the power-play for the league's top unit.

D'Ambra nailed home a Drew Kopp feed which seemed to invigorate the Wave more than it did the KiXX.

Milwaukee followed with six unanswered goals, including three tallies in a span of 3:12 early in the second quarter.

Quipped D'Ambra, "we made a couple of mental mistakes; the game's about momentum and (Milwaukee) ended up getting (it)."

Matt Schmidt blasted a shot past goalkeeper Peter Pappas, who was tied up with KiXX defender Devlin Barnes, to start the hemorrhage.

Milwaukee, not among the best with the man advantage, knotted the score at 2-2 on Guiliano Oliverio's 8th goal of the season, with less than a minute to go on the man advantage.

Pat White gave Milwaukee a lead they wouldn't surrender, scoring 1:37 later.

Wave leading-scorer Greg Howes assisted on all three goals along with adding a fourth- quarter tally.

The KiXX seemed to settle down but started the second half in ominous fashion.

The Wave added to their lead when Michael King punched a shot over the head of Philadelphia goalkeeper Peter Pappas to start the third quarter.

The KiXX had few scoring opportunities thereafter and by the time Jeremy Aldrich was ejected for violent conduct after delivering an elbow to the head of Milwaukee defender Lovelace Ackah, the game was pretty much decided.

Howes and Schmidt added the final tallies in the last two minutes of the game with Pappas pulled in favor of the sixth attacker.

Early in the year, the KiXX went from a league-best 5-1 record to a .500 soccer team in less than a month.

Injuries played a role as did the number of first-year players on the team.

So did the team's lack of intensity.

The KiXX rebounded by going 11-3 since that point but find themselves plagued by their early season demons.

"We didn't take care of the ball and we didn't make good decisions," added D'Ambra.

"(Milwaukee) did to us what we like to do to other teams."

David W. Unkle is a freelance sports writer and frequent contributor to OurSportsCentral. He hosts a weekly interview-formatted radio program in the Philadelphia market and can be contacted via his website: www.topcatsports.org.



Major Indoor Soccer League 2 Stories from February 16, 2005


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