KiXX split weekend set, trail Detroit by a half-game in the MISL Standings
Published on March 5, 2007 under Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2)
Philadelphia KiXX News Release
Philadelphia, PA, March 5, 2007 - The Philadelphia KiXX (14-9) split two games over the past weekend and trail the expansion Detroit Ignition by just one half-game with seven games remaining. In Baltimore on March 2, the KiXX dropped a 10-8 overtime match that was marred by penalties including two from keeper Peter Pappas, who was serving a penalty when the Blast scored in overtime. The club then returned to the Wachovia Spectrum on March 4 to defeat the California Cougars on Pat Morris Bobble Head night, with Morris scoring a three-point goal and adding two assists. On March 10, the KiXX will travel to Chicago and then Milwaukee the following day, March 11, with both games beginning at 2:00 pm ET. 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 5, Off Day
Tuesday, March 6, Training, Tri-State Sports, 10:00am to 12:00pm
Wednesday, March 7, Training, Tri-State Sports, 10:00am to 12:00pm
Thursday, March 8, Training, Tri-State Sports, 10:00am to 12:00pm
Friday, March 9, Travel to Chicago
Saturday, March 10, at Chicago, 2:00pm ET
Sunday, March 11, at Milwaukee, 2:00pm ET
*all times are Eastern and subject to change
Injury Report: No Injuries
KiXX vs. Chicago
2006-07 Series: 2-2 (home 0-2, away 2-2) Overall: 6-8 (home 3-4, away 3-4)
This Saturday's meeting will be the fifth time this season that the Storm and KiXX face off with each team winning both of their road games ... Chicago recently defeated California on March 1 and find themselves 3.5 games out of first place ... Philadelphia split the weekend set against Baltimore and California and are now one half-game back of Detroit for first... Chicago rookie Stephen Armstrong leads the Storm with 41 points on 17 goals ... Mark Ughy follows with 16 goals and 39 points despite playing in just 15 games this season while recovering from a knee injury ... in net, keeper Jim Larkin has started 16 of 21 games sporting a 7-10 record and a 11.29PAA ... 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.
Game Two: The KiXX will travel to Milwaukee twice during the month of March, with the first match set for March 11 at U.S. Cellular Arena ... the club has won three of four games against the Wave this season, most recently at home on February 24 ... the KiXX offense put up 24 points on the Wave, led by forward John Barry Nusum's second hat trick of the season ... Greg Howes 77 points (2nd in the MISL) and 24 goals lead the Wave, followed by Todd Dusosky's 72 points ... Howes also leads the League with 26 assists and nine restart goals ... Keeper Nick Vorberg has started 22 of 24 games while sporting a 11-11 record and a 11.52 PAA ... recently signed 2005-06 Goalkeeper-of-the-Year Brett Phillips is 0-2 in two starts.
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 eight-game point streak, while leading the MISL in three-point goals with six ... in just 20 games this season, Martinez has shot up the MISL leaderboard in points with 55, ranking him sixth ... the Mexico City native leads the KiXX with 19 assists, while contributing 21 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.
Second Place Unchartered Territory: Philadelphia had been in possession of first place in the MISL standings since December 28, 2006 ... going into their December 29 match against Chicago, the KiXX were 5-3 and one-half game behind the Storm ... with a 10-8 victory at the Sears Centre, the KiXX moved into first place on a Dino Delevski game winner and hadn't relinquished the top spot until Friday, March 2 following a 10-8 OT loss to Baltimore ... the Blast, now winners of seven straight, moved into a tie with the Detroit Ignition for first place, with the KiXX just one-half game back ... after a Detroit and Philadelphia win, with Baltimore idle, the Ignition now own sole possession of first place with the Blast and KiXX tied for second just one half-game back ... with a sweep this weekend and a Detroit loss on March 11 in Chicago, the KiXX can regain control of first place with just five games remaining after this weekend.
Last Week's Outing: PHI 22, CAL (3/4/07): The Philadelphia KiXX (14-9) defeated the California Cougars (6-19) in front of 6,829 at the Wachovia Spectrum ... Pat Morris recorded a three-point goal and two assists in a 24-11 KiXX win on Pat Morris Bobble Head Night ... with just seven games remaining in the season, the KiXX pulled to within one half-game of the expansion Detroit Ignition, and into a tie for second in the MISL Standings with the Baltimore Blast ... David Castellanos began scoring less than four minutes into the action with his sixth two-pointer of the season from Edgar Bartolomeu ... after the KiXX were awarded a shootout opportunity on a Vincente Figueroa tripping call, Genoni Martinez buried his 14th of the season, putting Philadelphia up 4-0 and extending his current point streak to eight games ... 14 seconds later, Evan McNeley scored his first three-pointer of the season to bring the Cougars to within one-point, 4-3 ... California committed a bench minor for having too many men on the field; 25 seconds later, KiXX player/coach Don D'Ambra capitalized on the power-play set up by Pat Morris ... D'Ambra has haunted the Cougars this season, with 20 points in five-games, including four goals in the KiXX come from behind win against California on February 17, in which Philly scored four goals in the final two minutes before winning in overtime ... Ato Leone's second of the season in his third game brought California to within one-point, 6-5 ... with six minutes remaining in the first half, Martinez scored his second of the night to put Philadelphia up 8-5 ... Dino Delevski set up the restart goal, which was the 650th point of Martinez's illustrious 12-year career ... Shawn Boney's eighth of the season from Dino Delevski put the KiXX up five points just two minutes into the second half ... keeper Bayard Elfvin played the ball with his hand outside of the crease, leaving the Cougars shorthanded for two minutes ... Dino Delevski capitalized on the power-play opportunity, assisted by Martinez ... less than two minutes later, Sandre Naumoski scored his fifth of the season on a feed from Andy Guastaferro ... Delevski set up yet another KiXX goal put home by Ptah Myers, his ninth of the season ... Philly took advantage of another California penalty when D'Ambra scored his second of the night from Morris ... KiXX rookie keeper Pat Hannigan entered for the final stanza up 18-5, when Aaron Susi scored his 14th of the season to bring California to within 11 ... with the 6th attacker out for the Cougars, Pat Morris tallied an empty net goal, his 10th from Bartolomeu ... Cougars forward Figueroa would tally two more goals to give the Cougars 11 points for the game ... Ptah Myers finished all scoring with an empty net goal, his second of the match ... John Barry Nusum did not dress for the KiXX for the second straight game with a sore quad muscle ... Cougars coach Bernie Lilavois falls to 0-5 since retiring to take on full time coaching duties midway through the season ... Philadelphia finished 3-4 on the powerplay.
Recently: BAL, 10, PHI 8 (3/2/07): The Philadelphia KiXX (13-9) fell into a second place tie with the Baltimore Blast (13-9) after the defending MISL champs knocked-off the visiting KiXX, 10-8, in overtime in front of 7,446 fans at the 1st Mariner Arena ... with the win, which was the sixth consecutive victory for Baltimore, the Blast and Philadelphia trail the expansion Detroit Ignition by one-half of a game for the top spot in the League standings ... Temple product and rookie midfielder Tony Donatelli opened the scoring, connecting on a two-point goal from teammate Shawn Boney to provide the visiting KiXX an early 2-0 advantage at 4:40 of the first frame ... Baltimore pulled even, 2-2, as PJ Wakefield found the back of the net off a missed shot from Denison Cabral at 11:30, a mere second after Philadelphia's Genoni Martinez was released from the penalty box after serving two-minutes for a holding infraction ... defender Genoni Martinez wasted little time in the second period, 4-2 at 1:35, blasting home a two-point score for the 250th goal of his illustrious career and extended his point streak to a team-best seven games; Boney registered the assist on the play, his second of the evening ... Donatelli connected with fellow Philadelphia native Pat Morris for his second two-point notch of the contest to stretch the club's lead to four, 6-2, at 5:29 ... Morris extended the KiXX advantage with an unassisted two-point tally that deflected off Baltimore's Lee Tschantret at 10:57 of the quarter ... Blast forward Tarik Walker rounded out the first-half scoring with a two-point goal on a feed from Wakefield to cut Philadelphia's advantage to four, 8-4, at 13:44 ... Cabral pulled the hosts within two, 8-6, finding the top right corner of the net for a power-play score on a pass from Tschantret at 7:46 of the third stanza ... Baltimore received the one-man advantage courtesy of a two-minute obstruction infraction accessed on David Castellanos ... Wakefield registered his second score of the night on an assist from Carlos Garcia at 9:45 to knot the clubs even, 8-8 ... after a scoreless fourth quarter, the clubs went into overtime, the fourth such occasion this season that Philadelphia was forced to an extra stanza ... with Pappas in the penalty box serving two minutes for tripping, forward Robbie Aristodemo sealed Baltimore's comeback with a shot just inside the cross bar for a 10-8 Blast victory ... three-time MISL Defender of the Year Genoni Martinez registered the 250th goal of his illustrious career with a two-point tally in tonight's second stanza ... the score also extended his point streak to a team best seven games ... tonight's action marked the 100th career game for KiXX midfielder and three-year veteran Andy Guastaferro.
Major Indoor Soccer League 2 Stories from March 5, 2007
- Ignition weekly - Detroit Ignition
- Wave eye future stars in 2007 amateur draft - Milwaukee Wave
- KiXX split weekend set, trail Detroit by a half-game in the MISL Standings - Philadelphia KiXX
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