KiXX remain in first place after overtime thriller

February 19, 2007 - Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2)
Philadelphia KiXX News Release


Philadelphia, PA, February 19, 2007 - The Philadelphia KiXX (12-7) came back from a six-point deficit with under two minutes remaining to stay atop the MISL standings by a full game. Don D'Ambra buried four goals, including the game tying goal in regulation with just one second remaining. Sandre Naumoski also added a hat trick, scoring two of his goals in the final 1:58. Rookie Tony Donatelli sealed the deal for the KiXX in the comeback of the season, 18-16 in overtime. The KiXX will host the Milwaukee Wave on February 24 at 7:05pm ET. The club's annual Children's Miracle Network post-game auction will follow. Philadelphia will then travel to Detroit to face the Ignition at the Compuware Sports Arena. Game time is slated for 4:35 pm ET.

This Week's Itinerary:

Monday, February 19, Off

Tuesday, February 20, Training, Tri-State Sports, 10:00am to 12:00pm

Wednesday, February 21, Training, Tri-State Sports, 10:00am to 12:00pm

Thursday, February 22, Training, Tri-State Sports, 10:00am to 12:00pm

Friday, February 23, Training, Tri-State Sports, 10:00am to 12:00pm

Saturday, February 24, vs. CAL, 7:05 pm ET

Sunday, February 25, at DET, 4:35 pm ET

*all times are Eastern and subject to change

Injury Report:

Player Injury Status

Shawn Boney Hip Doubtful

Dave Castellanos Hamstring Questionable

John Barry Nusum Calf Questionable

KiXX vs. Wave

2006-07 Series: 2-1 (home 1-1, away 1-0) Overall: 19-28 (home 15-8, away 4-20)

This Saturday's meeting will be the fourth time this season that the Wave and KiXX face off with Philadelphia winning the first two games, and Milwaukee taking the most recent contest on January 6 in Philly ... the Wave have dropped their last two, while the KiXX have won their last two ... Milwaukee has two of the top three players on the MISL points leaderboard ... Greg Howes leads the charge with 70 points and 23 goals on an astounding 144 shots ... Todd Dusosky leads the league with two shorthanded goals while contributing 69 points ... Todd's brother Troy ranks 11th in the MISL with 41 points ... Nick Vorberg minds the net for the Wave, sporting an 11-9 record and an 11.56 PAA ... Coach Keith Tozer will lead his team against Philadelphia with 566 career wins under his belt.

Back-to-Back Contests: This weekend's back-to-back set marks the fourth of seven occasions in which the team will compete in two games in the same number of days ... the club will commence the series versus the Milwaukee Wave at the Wachovia Spectrum on Saturday, February 24 ... the back-to-back set concludes with a trip to the Motor City to battle the expansion Detroit Ignition at the Compuware Sports Arena on Sunday, February 25 ... the KiXX enter this weekend with a 2-4 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, 6-2 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 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

Healthy Bodies: With two games in two days coming up this weekend, the club will look to stay healthy ... only three players on the entire roster have appeared in all 19 regular season games, including rookie Tony Donatelli, midfielder Ptah Myers, and keeper Peter Pappas ... player/coach Don D'Ambra missed his first game of the season against California on February 7 with a hamstring pull that he has been fighting all season while midfielder David Castellanos also missed his first game of the season recently, against the Cougars on February 17 ... big man Shawn Boney has missed the team's last five games with a lower back strain ... other players who have missed significant time include Pat Morris, who missed three games with a concussion, John Nusum missed three games with a quad pull, Steve Wacker has missed nine games with a hyper-extended knee, and Casey Barton has missed seven games with a hip strain ... despite 35 man games lost to injury, the KiXX still maintain a full-game lead in the MISL standings as the club works on getting healthy for the stretch run.

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 11-4 when D'Ambra records at least one point ... D'Ambra leads the KiXX in points (56), goals (21), power-play goals (5), and ranks second with 13 assists ... the 11-year veteran is fourth in the MISL in points, fifth in goals (21), and tied for second in first-goals (4) ... 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 periods ending December 10, December 31, and most recently on February 18 for his nine point performance against California.

Last Week's Outing: PHI 18, CAL 16 (2/17/07): The Philadelphia KiXX (12-7) came back from a six-point deficit with under two minutes remaining to stay atop the MISL standings by a full game ... Don D'Ambra buried four goals, including the game tying goal in regulation with just one second remaining ... Sandre Naumoski also added a hat trick, scoring two of his goals in the final 1:58 ... rookie Tony Donatelli sealed the deal for the KiXX in the comeback of the season, 18-16 in overtime ... Vincente Figueroa began the scoring for California with his team-leading 18th goal of the season, assist from Aaron Susi ... Craig Scheer, who was listed as doubtful coming into the contest with a knee injury, put the Cougars up 4-0 on his fifth of the season from Nelson Santana ... Philly player/coach and leading scorer Don D'Ambra put the KiXX on the board with his 18th goal of the season, an unassisted two-pointer ... Dino Delevski tied the game at four apiece on his ninth goal of the season. ... the assist came from Genoni Martinez, who leads Philadelphia in that category with 15 ... Enrique Tovar put the Cougars back up two with his 18th goal, assist from Santana ... Aaron Susi's 13th restored California's four-point lead ... Tovar struck first in the second half, extending California's lead to six points, his second of the game from Ryan Hall ... D'Ambra's second goal of the night brought the KiXX to within four points, 10-6 ... Martinez set up D'Ambra's 20th, his second assist of the night and the fourth straight game in which he has recorded a point ... Sandre Naumoski's second goal of the season pulled Philadelphia to within two, 10-8 ... California wouldn't let the KiXX tie the game, as Marcos Chantel pushed the lead to four once more on his second of the season ... Nelson Santana added a goal to go along with his two assists to put California ahead, 14-8 ... in a wild final two minutes, five goals were scored by the two teams, including four from Philadelphia to send the match to overtime ... two more goals from D'Ambra and Naumoski each sent the game into the extra frame, including Naumoski completing the hat trick with 14 seconds left and D'Ambra tying the game on his fourth of the night with just one second on the clock ... Tony Donatelli continued his dominance of California this year with his team-leading third game-winning goal and 18th point against the Cougars alone this season.

Recently: PHI 19, CAL 12 (2/7/07): The Philadelphia KiXX (11-7) regained form and snapped a two-game losing streak with a 19-12 victory versus the California Cougars (6-15) in front of 6,538 fans at the club's 12th Annual School Day Game ... John Barry Nusum registered the game-winning goal, his second of three scores in the contest, at 6:48 of the third quarter ... Peter Pappas (10-7) earned the victory in net for Philadelphia with eight saves on 14 chances, while Dominik Jakubek (2-11) took the loss for the Cougars stopping 19 of 27 ... Temple University product Steve Wacker opened the scoring with his second two-point goal of the season on a feed from three-time MISL Defender of the Year Genoni Martinez at 2:04 of the first quarter ... the KiXX lengthened their advantage to four, 4-0, as forward John Barry Nusum found the back of the net for a power-play score at 4:56 courtesy of a two-minute penalty accessed to California's Semir Mesanovic; Edgar Bartolomeu recorded the assist on the play ... after Philadelphia defender Casey Barton was sent to the penalty box for a two-minute tripping infraction, Mesanovic cut the Cougars' deficit to two, 4-2, with a two-point power-play goal at 11:06 of the frame ... a mere 17 seconds into the second period, California's Aaron Susi knotted the score at 4-4 on a dish from teammate Nelson Santana at 4:07, but Philadelphia native and team captain Pat Morris quickly regained the club's two-point advantage, 6-4, connecting on a pass from Martinez at 4:07 ... Martinez continued his scoring spree with a two-point notch from teammate Sandre Naumoski to double Philadelphia's lead, 8-4, at 5:35 of the stanza ... Bernie Lilavois cut the KiXX advantage back down to two, 8-6, finding the back of the net on an assist from Brian Farber at 9:52 ... Morris blasted home a three-point power-play goal, 11-6, on Martinez's third dime of the day at 10:07 ... the KiXX received the one-man advantage courtesy of a two-minute charging penalty called on Jakubek ... Nusum registered his second two-point tally of the matinee on an assist from teammate Drew Kopp to extend the KiXX advantage to seven, 13-6, at 6:48 of the third quarter ... forward Marcos Chantel connected on a pass from Lilavois to pull California with five, 13-8, at 7:58 ... David Castellanos quickly responded for Philadelphia, finishing a feed from defender Casey Barton at 8:26 of the period ... the Cougars once again cut their deficit to five, 15-10, as Farber notched his second two-point score of the day, unassisted just 23 seconds into the final period of play ... Nusum and Bartolomeu connected for the second time of the contest, 17-10, at 7:06 ... defender Casey Barton connected on his first score of the season, a two-point goal from teammate Dino Delevski at 8:35 of the fourth quarter (19-10) ... at the 13-minute mark, defender Antonio Sutton recorded a two-point notch from Barber to pull California with seven, 19-12.



Major Indoor Soccer League 2 Stories from February 19, 2007


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