Philadelphia closes out 2004-05 with 22-17 overall record

Published on April 25, 2005 under Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2)
Philadelphia KiXX News Release


Philadelphia, PA, April 25, 2005 – The Philadelphia KiXX closed out the 2004-2005 regular season with a 8-2 victory in Kansas City on April 23 to improve to 22-17 overall. The club, which holds the number three seed, will square-off versus the second-seeded Cleveland Force in the opening Semifinal Round of the 2005 MISL Playoffs. The two-game series will kick-off on Friday, April 29 at the Savvis Center in St. Louis, MO as part of a MISL playoff doubleheader. Game-time is scheduled for 6:00 pm ET, with Game One of the Milwaukee Wave-St. Louis Steamers series immediately following at 8:30 pm ET. Game Two of the KiXX-Force series is slated for Sunday, May 1 at Cleveland's Wolstein Convocation Center with a 5:05 pm ET start time.

This Week's Itinerary:

Monday, April 25, Practice, Tri-State Sports, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm

Tuesday, April 26, Practice, Tri-State Sports, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm

Wednesday, April 27, Practice, Tri-State Sports, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm

Thursday, April 28, Travel to St. Louis, MO

Friday, April 29, MISL Semifinal Game One, KiXX vs. Cleveland Force, Savvis Center, 6:00 pm

Saturday, April 30, Off Day

Sunday, April 31, MISL Semifinal Game Two, KiXX @ Cleveland Force, Wolstein Convocation Center, 5:05 pm

*all times are Eastern and subject to change

Injury Report:

Player Injury Status

Edgar Bartolomeu Ankle Doubtful

KiXX vs. Force

2004-05 Series: 5-3 (home 3-1, away 2-2) Overall: 33-19 (home 23-4, away 10-15)

Philadelphia and the Cleveland Force squared-off eight times in 2004-05, with the KiXX claiming the series, five games to three ... the KiXX defeated Cleveland, 11-8, at the Convo in the team's season opener on October 28 thanks to a four-point, three-block performance from Philadelphia native Pat Morris ... former KiXX members Gary DePalma and Chris Handsor each notched a pair of points for the Force ... Cleveland dominated the second meeting on November 26, leading from start to finish and earning a 6-3 victory ... the Force then edged Philadelphia, 6-5, at the Wachovia Spectrum on December 11, despite three-point performances from both John Barry Nusum and Goran Vasic ... the KiXX responded with a 6-5 victory of their own on January 9 with Nusum and Force forward Adauto Neto each notching three points ... on February 5, KiXX midfielder Edgar Bartolomeu registered the game-winning goal at 7:13 of double overtime to give Philadelphia a 7-6 victory ... the 82 minutes and 13 seconds of action marked the second longest game and only the third double-overtime match in KiXX franchise history ... the Force dominated the meeting on February 20, earning an 8-2 victory at the Wolstein Convocation Center, but Philadelphia answered right back to snap a four-game losing streak with a 7-6 overtime victory on February 26 ... player/coach Don D'Ambra paced all scorers with a season-high five points on four goals and one assist ... the KiXX cruised past Cleveland, 8-2, in the clubs' final meeting on march 26, thanks to a four-point outing from Kevin Sloan ... DePalma was acquired in a three-team trade that also involved the St. Louis Steamers and the Milwaukee Wave, while Handsor was added via a trade with the Baltimore Blast ... Omid Namazi, former KiXX player/coach, re-signed as Cleveland's head coach after signing as player midway through the 2003-04 campaign ... he then activated himself shortly before the roster freeze date of March 31.

Familiar Opponent: Philadelphia and the Force met a total of eight times this season, three of which needed an extra stanza to determine a winner ... the KiXX were fortunate enough to land the victory on each occasion ... the team first knocked-off the Force, 6-5, at the Wolstein Convocation Center on January 9 and then earned a 7-6 win in double overtime on February 5 ... the 82 minutes and 13 seconds needed to decide the outcome marked the Philadelphia's longest outing of the season, second longest all-time, and only the third total time the team was forced into the second extra stanza in their nine years of existence ... the KiXX rounded out the trifecta with a 7-6 overtime win at the Wachovia Spectrum on February 26 ... Philadelphia finished the regular season with a 3-5 record in overtime, losing each of their games forced to the extra stanza with any opponent other than Cleveland.

Setting the Tone: The Philadelphia KiXX finished with the number three seed in the MISL standings, thanks in large part to their top-rated power-play and penalty-killing units ... Philadelphia netted 27 power-play goals on 50 opportunities for a 54.0 success rate, while turning away 33 of the 51 man-down situations they faced for a 64.7 kill rate ... the team also posted the second-best defense in the seven-team League, holding their opponents to a mere 5.0 goals per game ... in contrast, the KiXX offense finished third with 5.4 goals per game.

Among the League Leaders: Philadelphia represented itself very well on the MISL Leaderboard this season ... player/coach Don D'Ambra used a four-point performance to catapult himself into a tie for sixth place on the MISL Leaderboard with 48 points ... rookie forward John Barry Nusum and player/assistant coach Kevin Sloan each finished a productive year tied for ninth with 45 points, while Philadelphia native Pat Morris trailed close behind in an 11th place tie with 43 ... forward Goran Vasic rounded out the KiXX members on the MISL Leaderboard at tied for 14th with 42 points ... the native of Belgrade, Yugoslavia, also finished second among the League leaders in assists with 31 dimes, and Morris ranked first in blocks with 93 ... not to be outdone, seven-time all-star goalkeeper Peter Pappas ranked second among the MISL leaders in nearly goalkeeping category including minutes (2,086), saves (449), goals against average (4.34), and save percentage (.748) ... Pappas ranks third in wins with 19.

Mr. Reliable: Philadelphia's Goran Vasic is the only member of the KiXX roster to appear in all 39 of the team's games this season ... the native of Belgrade, Yugoslavia concluded the regular campaign with 42 points, ranking fifth on the team and tied for 14th on the MISL Leaderboard, while he ranked second in the League with 31 assists ... Vasic, who recorded the 500th point of his seven-year indoor career on February 16, led the KiXX with 48 point sand 34 assists in 35 games last season ...

Big Man Returns: KiXX forward Shawn Boney, sidelined for 23 consecutive outings after breaking his left foot in late December, returned to action in the club's regular-season home finale versus the Kansas City Comets on April 16 ... the native of Trinidad appeared in a limited role for the KiXX, playing the majority of his time in the first half ... Boney then notched his first goal since December 12 in the club's regular-season finale in Kansas City on April 23, marking his ninth point of 2004-05 ... before sustaining the injury, the 33-year-old product of Southern Connecticut State University registered eight points on six goals and a pair of assists in only 10 appearances ... Boney also missed 19 games last season with a similar injury to his right foot, but managed to finish with 18 points (14 goals, four assists) in 17 games played.

Individual Accolades: The MISL announced on April 25 that KiXX netminder Peter Pappas was named the League's Goalkeeper of the Week for the seven-day period ending April 24 ... the accolade was his sixth such honor of 2004-05, the most among all goalkeeper in the seven-team League ... overall, five different members of the Philadelphia roster received a weekly award ... listed below are the members and the weekly accolades they received this season:

Player Weekly Accolade

Don D'Ambra Offensive POW for seven-day periods ending January 30, February 13

Drew Kopp Defensive POW for the seven-day period ending March 27

Pat Morris Defensive POW for seven-day periods ending Oct. 24, Nov. 7, Dec. 12, Dec. 19, Jan. 30, Apr. 3

John Barry Nusum Offensive POW for seven-day period ending November 7

Peter Pappas Goalkeeper of the Week for the seven-day periods ending Nov. 22, Dec. 19, Jan. 10, Jan. 31, Apr. 10, Apr. 24

Last Week's Outing(s):

KiXX 8, Comets 2 (4/23): Philadelphia concluded the 2004-05 regular season with a 8-2 victory versus the Kansas City Comets at Kemper Arena. Ater a scoreless first period, the KiXX rattled off six unanswered goals in the opening seven minutes of the second quarter; the outburst marked the club's highest goal total in a single quarter of play this season. Philadelphia player/assistant coach Kevin Sloan sparked the offensive assault with the team's first two goals, the first an unassisted restart goal just 12 seconds into the stanza followed by a notch from player/coach Don D'Ambra at 4:25. A mere 26 seconds later (4:51) , veteran forward Joel Shanker continued the scoring spree with his 12th tally of the season on D'Ambra's second feed of the contest. Nusum, forward Shawn Boney and fellow newcomer Damien Pottinger concluded the club's offensive output in the second. Nusum connected on a score after forcing a turnover in front of the net at 5:37, while Boney registered a restart goal from MISL-assists leader Goran Vasic at 5:41. Pottinger struck on a dish from Gary Brooks at 6:15. Kansas City finally ended their scoring drought, as midfielder Casey Stevens found the back of the net on a feed from Jamar Beasley at 10:22 of the period. Comets forward Dino Delevski cut the lead to four, 6-2, with a tally from Craig Scheer at 6"07 of the third quarter. D'Ambra responded with a pair of tallies to close out the period with Philadelphia holding an 8-2 advantage. The Philadelphia native first registered a power-play score from Sloan at 13:55, courtesy of a two-minute tripping infraction called on Oswaldo Medina, before connecting on a dish from all-star defender Pat Morris at 14:39. Neither team registered a score in the final period, as Philadelphia held on to earn an 8-2 victory.

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