KiXX split weekend set, trail Baltimore by a half-game in the MISL Standings
Published on March 12, 2007 under Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2)
Philadelphia KiXX News Release
Philadelphia, PA, March 12, 2007 - The Philadelphia KiXX (15-10) split two games over the past weekend and trail the defending champion Baltimore Blast by just one half-game with five games remaining. In Chicago on March 10, the KiXX defeated the Storm by a score of 18-11 with five-point efforts from player/coach Don D'Ambra and KiXX captain Pat Morris. The club then traveled to Milwaukee on March 11 in hopes of clinching a playoff berth, but fell to the Wave 11-7. The club returns home March 17 to face the Chicago Storm for Christian Night. Pastor Preston from Vineland, NJ and KiXX players will give their testimonials following the game, along with a concert from the Chris Colletti Band.
This Week's Itinerary:
Monday, March 12, Off Day
Tuesday, March 13, Training, Tri-State Sports, 10:00am to 12:00pm
Wednesday, March 14, Training, Tri-State Sports, 10:00am to 12:00pm
Thursday, March 15, Training, Tri-State Sports, 10:00am to 12:00pm
Friday, March 16, Training, Tri-State Sports, 10:00am to 12:00pm
Saturday, March 17, vs. Chicago, 7:05pm ET
Sunday, March 18, Off Day
*all times are Eastern and subject to change
Injury Report: Injury Status
Sandre Naumoski Back Strain Questionable
KiXX vs. Chicago
2006-07 Series: 3-2 (home 0-2, away 3-0) Overall: 7-8 (home 3-4, away 4-4)
This Saturday's meeting will be the final time that the Storm and KiXX face off this season with each team winning all of their road games in the series ... Chicago recently knocked the expansion Detroit Ignition out of first place with an 18-4 decision, one day after the KiXX won in Chicago ... the Storm find themselves 3.5 games back with just 7 games remaining ... Chicago rookie Stephen Armstrong leads the Storm with 48 points on 20 goals ... Mark Ughy follows with 18 goals and 45 points despite playing in just 17 games this season while recovering from a knee injury ... in net, keeper Jim Larkin has started 17 of 19 games sporting a 7-11 record and an 11.49PAA ... Glascow, Scotland native Steve Morris leads the Storm in his first year as head coach ... During his 16-year career, Morris played for the Milwaukee Wave and is in the top 10 in every major statistical category in Wave history.
Playoff Push: Philadelphia currently sits a half-game behind the defending champion Baltimore Blast in the standings, tied with the expansion Detroit Ignition ... with five games remaining, the best the KiXX can finish would be 20-10, worst 15-15 ... with only four playoff spots available, five teams remain within 3.5 games of each other entering the final three weeks of the season ... only California has had their fate officially sealed, as they will miss the playoffs, while seeds 1-4 remain up for grabs ... if at the end of the season two teams are tied in the MISL, the next criteria would be head-to-head record, followed by head-to-head point differential ... the KiXX remaining games include two against Baltimore (PHI is 1-3 vs. BAL this season), and one against each Detroit (3-2), Chicago (3-2), and Milwaukee (3-2) ... the final standings may come down to a Milwaukee-Chicago match on April 7, the last day of the regular season.
Coverage: The Philadelphia KiXX match against the Chicago Storm on March 17 will be available live via webcast at www.wmssfm.com ... veteran broadcaster John Wilsbach will provide the play-by-play ... the MISL recently completed a deal with the Versus Network, with the KiXX game against the Baltimore Blast on March 24 being the first game to be televised nationally ... game time has been moved up to 5:05pm ET ... Philadelphia's March 31 match will be televised on CN8 ... the game will feature the KiXX vs. the Detroit Ignition, with both teams currently tied for second place in League.
Back-to-Back Contests: This past weekend's back-to-back set marked the fifth of seven occasions in which the team will compete in two games in the same number of days ... the club began the series with a March 10 win in Chicago, before the March 11 loss to Milwaukee ... the weekend split has the KiXX at 4-6 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 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
Martinez Living Up to the Hype: KiXX All-Star defender Genoni Martinez has been proving why he has been named Defender-of-the-Year three-times in the MISL, after Philadelphia selected him with the club's first round pick in the 2006 St. Louis Steamers Dispersal Draft ... Martinez is currently riding an ten-game point streak, while leading the MISL in three-point goals with six ... in just 22 games this season, Martinez has shot up the MISL leaderboard in points with 60, ranking him sixth ... the Mexico City native leads the KiXX with 20 assists, while contributing 24 blocks and three power-play goals ... this season alone, Martinez has recorded the 250th goal of his career, the 650th point, the 100th career two-point goal, and the 200th assist of his career ... Martinez was named Player-of-the-Week in the MISL for his efforts during the seven-day period ending January 14 and Philadelphia's Player-of-the-Month for his 25 points in five games during February.
Yesterday's Outing: PHI 7, MIL 11 (3/11/07): The Philadelphia KiXX (15-10) were defeated by the Milwaukee (12-13) 11-7 at the U.S. Cellular Arena to fall one-half game behind the first-place Detroit Ignition and into a tie for second place with the defending champion Baltimore Blast in the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) standings ... Detroit will take the field in Chicago to battle the Storm, while the Blast will-square off with the California Cougars at the Stockton Arena later this evening ... with the loss, Philadelphia posted a 1-1 record in the back-to-back weekend and are now 4-6 in such contests this season ... former Philadelphia midfielder Goran Vasic provided the hosting Wave an early 3-0 advantage, connecting on a pass from teammate Tyrone Gordon a mere 42 seconds into the opening period of play ... Cape May, NJ native Anthony Maher extended the Milwaukee lead, 5-0, finding the top right corner of the goal off a feed from Marcelo Fontana at 4:51 ... Fontana wasted little time in the second, depositing a pass from Maher into the back of the net to increase the Wave's advantage to seven, 7-0, just 22 seconds into the second frame ... with less than a minute remaining in the period (14:01), Fontana registered an unassisted score to further lengthen the Milwaukee lead, 9-0 ... three-time MISL Defender of the Year Genoni Martinez finally put Philadelphia on the board, connecting on an unassisted two-point goal just 19 seconds before the half, 9-2; the tally extended Martinez's point streak to a season-best 10 games ... Philadelphia native and Temple University product Steve Wacker notched his second score of the weekend to pull the KiXX within five, 9-4, at 10:18 of the third stanza ... forward Greg Howes registered a restart goal on an assist from Vasic to stretch Milwaukee's lead back to seven, 11-4, at 13:33 ... KiXX player/coach Don D'Ambra blasted home a three-point goal from just inside the yellow line, 11-7, on a feed from Northeast Catholic graduate Pat Morris at 11:21 of the fourth quarter.
This Past Weekend's Outing: PHI 18, CHI 11 (3/10/07): The Philadelphia KiXX (15-9) defeated the Chicago Storm (10-12) 18-11, pulling the club into a tie for first place in the MISL with the expansion Detroit Ignition ... KiXX captain Pat Morris is catching fire at the right time, with 21 points in his last five games as the club marches towards the playoffs. With just six games remaining in the regular season, Philadelphia can be the first team in the League to clinch a playoff berth with a victory over the Milwaukee Wave, Sunday, March 11 ... Genoni Martinez wasted no time extending his current point streak to nine games with a two-point restart goal 9:32 into the first quarter ... player/coach Don D'Ambra tallied his team-leading 24th goal from Pat Morris, putting the KiXX up 4-0 after one frame ... John Barry Nusum scored his 17th goal of the season from Tony Donatelli at 8:48 into the second quarter ... Nusum was listed as questionable coming into the game with a sore quad, which kept him out of action the past two matches ... Steve Wacker's third of the season from D'Ambra put the KiXX up 8-0, 2:15 into the second half ... Ptah Myers followed with his 11th goal just over a minute later, unassisted ... rookie Stephen Armstrong finally got Chicago on the board 8:25 into the third quarter on a power-play goal after a Nusum tripping call ... Jorge Valle and Mariano Bolella brought the Storm to within four with back-to-back goals, 10-6 ... D'Ambra's second goal of the night from Morris put the KiXX back up six, but just eight seconds later Bolella struck again with a three-pointer to pull Chicago to within three heading into the final stanza ... Chicago's furious comeback continued when Bolella completed the hat trick 2:12 into the fourth ... Pat Morris struck with a three-pointer from David Castellanos to give the KiXX some breathing room, 15-11 ... after the Storm pulled keeper Jeff Richey for a 6th attacker, Edgar Bartolomeu buried his third three-pointer of the season into the empty net ... Pat Morris extended his current goal and point streak to five games each ... the game was the 100th of David Castellanos' career ... Philadelphia improves to 2-3 in the first game of a back-to-back set.
Major Indoor Soccer League 2 Stories from March 12, 2007
- California Cougars Weekly - California Cougars
- KiXX split weekend set, trail Baltimore by a half-game in the MISL Standings - Philadelphia KiXX
- Ignition weekly - Detroit Ignition
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