KiXX travel to Stockton February 17 looking to extend their first-place lead
February 12, 2007 - Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2)
Philadelphia KiXX News Release
Philadelphia, PA, February 12, 2007 - The Philadelphia KiXX (11-7) moved into sole possession of first place by just a half-game after defeating California at the KiXX Annual School Day Game on February 7. The club is enjoying a ten-day break in games before traveling to Stockton, CA for the final time this season to take on the Cougars in the rematch this Saturday. Game time is set for 9:00 pm ET at Stockton Arena, where the KiXX are 1-1 this season.
This Week's Itinerary:
Monday, February 12, Training, Tri-State Sports, 10:00am to 12:00pm
Tuesday, February 13, Training, Tri-State Sports, 10:00am to 12:00pm
Wednesday, February 14, Training, Tri-State Sports, 10:00am to 12:00pm
Thursday, February 15, Training, Tri-State Sports, 10:00am to 12:00pm
Friday, February 16, Travel to California
Saturday, February 17, @CAL, 9:00pm ET
Sunday, February 18, Travel from California
*all times are Eastern and subject to change
Injury Report:
Player Injury Status
Don D'Ambra Hamstring Probable
Shawn Boney Lower Back Questionable
KiXX vs. Cougars
2006-07 Series: 3-1 (home 2-0, away 1-1) Overall: 7-3 (home 4-1, away 3-2)
Saturday's contest between the KiXX and Cougars will be the fifth of six meetings between the clubs this season the Philadelphia's final trip to California ... 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 ... in the KiXX Annual School Day Game on February 7, John Barry Nusum recorded a hat-trick, pacing the club on their way to a 19-12 victory and sole possession of first place by a half-game ... the second-year club out of Stockton, CA is led by player-coach Bernie Lilavois, who leads the team with 19 assists and ranks second with 43 points ... Vincente Figueroa leads the Cougars in points (46) and goals (17), despite playing in only 15 of the club's 21 games this season ... Dominik Jakubek minds the net for California with a record of 2-11 and a 16.71 PAA.
Healthy Bodies: While enjoying a ten-day break between games, the club will focus on getting healthy ... only three players on the entire roster have appeared in all 18 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 ... big man Shawn Boney has missed the team's last four 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 two 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 32 man games lost to injury, the KiXX still maintain a half-game lead in the MISL standings as the club works on getting healthy for the stretch run.
California Killers: Philadelphia Rookie Tony Donatelli has led Philadelphia to three victories in four 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 four games vs. California this season, Donatelli has seven goals for 16 points, followed by defender Pat Morris who has four goals for 12 points ... Nusum's hat trick on February 7 gives him 11 points vs. Cali on the season, followed by Genoni Martinez with 10 points ... Martinez recorded the 200th assist of his illustrious career in the February 7 win ... keeper Peter Pappas has a 3-1 record vs. the Cougars with a 10.25 PAA.
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.
Last Week's Outing: 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.
Recently: 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.
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Major Indoor Soccer League 2 Stories from February 12, 2007
- Storm Reschedules School Day Game - Chicago Storm
- KiXX Sweep MISL Player of the Week Awards - Philadelphia KiXX
- Ignition weekly - Detroit Ignition
- KiXX travel to Stockton February 17 looking to extend their first-place lead - Philadelphia KiXX
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