Late Goal Sends Heat to Defeat in Philly

Published on February 23, 2003 under Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2)
Harrisburg Heat News Release


Philadelphia, PA - Philadelphia's Don D'Ambra scored the game-winning 2pg with 11 seconds left on the clock as the Harrisburg Heat fell to the Philadelphia KiXX by a final score of 7-6 at the First Union Spectrum on Sunday afternoon. With the loss, Harrisburg falls to 12-19 on the season, while Philadelphia improves to 21-7 and remains undefeated (15-0) at home this season. Peter Pappas records the win for the KiXX, and Chris Damico gets the loss for the Heat.

Harrisburg built an early 4-0 lead. At 2:14 of the first, Ze Roberto controlled a Neil Gilbert feed and beat Pappas from deep on the left wing for a 2pg. And at 7:22, Chris Morman one-timed a deft service from Nikola Vignjevic past Pappas to the near post for a 4-0 lead after one quarter.

Philadelphia began to assert themselves in the second, beginning at 3:01, when Pat Morris nudged home a Goran Vasic restart distribution for a two-point power play goal. The KiXX took the lead at 10:08, when Vasic drilled a 3pg past Damico from the center point to make it 5-4. The Heat, however, went into the locker room with the lead courtesy of rookie Kevin Burk, who headed home a shot after Damico's distribution hopped over two KiXX defenders at 13:05. Harrisburg was in front 6-5 at halftime.

A tight third quarter yielded no points, and the Heat took that 6-5 lead into the final stanza. Damico and the Heat defense stood strong in the face of repeated KiXX flurries, and a Too Many Men on the Field penalty against Philadelphia gave the Heat a power play with just under three minutes to play. Harrisburg failed to convert the power play, and with 11 seconds left, Vasic banged a restart pass high off the glass in the corner to the middle of the box, where KiXX player/coach D'Ambra was waiting to rifle it home for the game-winning 2pg.

Harrisburg is now 0-6 against Philly this season; those six losses have come by a combined 13 points.

NOTES: Heat defender Chris Morman left the game in the third quarter with an ankle injury and did not return...The Heat faces one more game in its current road trip, next Saturday, March 1, in Baltimore. Kickoff at 1st Mariner Arena is 7:35 p.m. Harrisburg will then return home to face the Milwaukee Wave on Wednesday, March 5, for the team's Got Milk? School Day Game (10:35 a.m. kickoff).

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Major Indoor Soccer League 2 Stories from February 23, 2003


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