Philadelphia drops three consecutive games to fall to 16-11 overall this season
February 21, 2005 - Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2)
Philadelphia KiXX News Release
Philadelphia, PA, February 21, 2005 âThe Philadelphia KiXX conclude a three-game road trip with their final regular-season visit to the Windy City to battle the Chicago Storm on Friday, February 25. Game-time at the UIC Pavilion is scheduled for 8:35 pm ET. The club then returns home to the Wachovia Spectrum to entertain former player/coach Omid Nmazi and the Cleveland Force on Saturday, February 26. The first 2,500 fans under 14 will receive a complimentary MISL replica mini ball, courtesy of Kohl's Cares for Kids. The contest is slated to kick-off at 7:05 pm ET, with the doors opening at 6:00 pm ET.
This Week's Itinerary:
Monday, February 21, Off Day
Tuesday, February 22, Practice, Tri-State Sports, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm
Wednesday, February 23, Practice, Tri-State Sports, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm
Thursday, February 24, Practice, Tri-State Sports, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm
Friday, February 25, KiXX @ Chicago Storm, UIC Pavilion, 8:35 pm
Saturday, February 26, KiXX vs. Cleveland Force, Wachovia Spectrum, 7:05 pm
*all times are Eastern and subject to change
Injury Report:
Player Injury Status
Shawn Boney Foot Out
John Barry Nusum Illness Questionable
Ze Roberto Knee Out
KiXX vs. Storm
2004-05 Series: 2-1 (home 1-1, away 1-0)
Overall: 2-1 (home 1-1, away 1-0)
The KiXX and the Chicago Storm met for the first time in franchise history on Sunday, November 14 ... the Storm walked away with a 7-4 victory thanks to a three-point (two goals, assist) performance from forward Novica Marojevic ... former KiXX midfielder Andy Guastaferro also registered a goal, his first of the season ... John Barry Nusum and Goran Vasic led the KiXX, each with a pair of points ... Philadelphia avenged the loss with a 9-5 victory at the Wachovia Spectrum on December 12 and then enjoyed a 9-4 victory in their first trip to the UIC Pavilion on December 17 ... KiXX newcomers, including Damien Pottinger (three points) and John Barry Nusum (two points), accounted for nine of the team's 17 total points (goals and assists), while Guastaferro notched a season-high three points on a goal and two assists in the December 12 contest ... Nusum, Shawn Boney and player/assistant coach Kevin Sloan each registered three points on December 17 ... the Storm were officially introduced as a MISL expansion team on May 25 ... Chicago acquired Guastaferro and defender Mauricio Vincello in the 2004 MISL Expansion Draft, but only Guastaferro agreed to a contract ... the two clubs will square-off a total of four times this season.
KiXX vs. Force
2004-05 Series: 3-3 (home 1-1, away 2-2) Overall: 31-19 (home 21-4, away 10-15)
This is the seventh of eight meetings, and the second in as many weeks, between Philadelphia and the Cleveland Force this season ... 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 ... Nusum and Force forward Adauto Neto led all scorers with three points apiece ... 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 most recent meeting on February 20, earning an 8-2 victory at the Wolstein Convocation Center ... 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 ... all three (DePalma, Handsor, Namazi) were members of Philadelphia's championship team in 2001-02 ... last season, the clubs split the six total meetings, with each team winning the series, two-games-to-one at home.
Three-Game Dip: The club dropped three consecutive games last week, marking only the second time this season the KiXX lost three straight decisions ... Philadelphia first suffered a 6-2 defeat to the Milwaukee Wave in the team's 10th Annual School Day Game on February 16, and then were held scoreless, 4-0, in Kansas City on February 19 ... the frustrating week concluded on February 20, when the KiXX took an 8-2 loss to former player/coach Omid Namazi and the Cleveland Force ... Philadelphia's 6-3 loss to the Force on November 26 began a four-game losing streak that concluded with the team's 9-5 victory versus the Chicago Storm on December 12 ... the team also suffered losses to the San Diego Sockers (12/3), St. Louis Steamers (12/5), and Cleveland (12/11) in that span.
Shut Down: The Philadelphia KiXX dropped a 4-0 decision to the Kansas City Comets on February 19, marking only the second time the team was held scoreless in a regular-season contest in franchise history ... the other occasion occurred versus the Dallas Sidekicks at Reunion Arena on January 25, 2004 ... the club was also held without a point versus the Cleveland Crunch (now known as the Force) on April 24, 1999 in the second contest of a three-game series for the 1999 conference championship ... vice versa, the team has shutout their opponent three times with Peter Pappas in net for each occasion.
KiXX Rookie Named Bermuda's Top Athlete: KiXX rookie forward John Barry Nusum was named Bermuda's 2004 Male Athlete of the Year at the 24th Annual Sports Awards Programme, which was held at the Fairmont Princess Hotel on February 17 ... a panel of sports news reporters, Olympic Standards Committee representatives and independent sport authorities determined the recipients by a secret ballot that utilizes a point system ... in his first professional indoor season with Philadelphia, the native of Devonshire, Bermuda is leading the team (tied 5th MISL) with 32 points and has already registered a pair of hat tricks and one League Weekly honor.
School Days: The KiXX dropped a 6-2 decision to the Milwaukee Wave in the club's 10th Annual School Day Game on Wednesday, February 16 ... earlier this season, the team defeated the Kansas City Comets, 7-6, in a School-Day Game at the Kemper Arena on February 5 ... last season, the club split a pair of the matinees, dropping a 8-4 decision in Dallas on October 22, 2003 and then defeating the Cleveland Force, 5-3, at the Wachovia Spectrum on February 11, 2004 ... with this season's two-game split, the club now posts an 11-7 overall record when competing in School-Day Games and an 8-2 mark when hosting the matinees in the City of Brotherly Love.
Scorin' Goran: Philadelphia KiXX forward Goran Vasic recently joined an elite scoring club ... the native of Belgrade, Yugoslavia notched a goal versus Milwaukee on February 16, marking the 500th point of his seven-year career ... with the feat, he becomes just the third KiXX player to reach the 500-point plateu ... player/coach Don D'Ambra has eclipsed 800 career points, while veteran midfielder Kevin Sloan is closing in on 1,100 career points ... Vasic currently sits second in the MISL with 20 assists and ranks tied for 11th on the circuit with 29 points ... the 32-year-old forward led the club in both points (48) and assists (34) last season.
Block Party: Northeast Catholic graduate Pat Morris continued the Philadelphia tradition of block parties with a season-high seven-blocks in the team's 7-6 double overtime win versus Cleveland on February 5 ... the three-time all-star defender, who currently leads the MISL with 62 blocks, notched seven blocks in the club's two outings this past week and has registered 31 rejections in the team's last seven contests ... not to be outdone on the offensive end of the floor, the Philadelphia University graduate sits tied for ninth in the League (2nd team) with 30 points and has already enjoyed a 12-game point streak.
Last Outing: Force 8, KiXX 2 (2/20): Cleveland's Ryan Hall opened the game's scoring with a restart goal, the first score of his indoor career, on a pass from Martinez at 6:32 of the first quarter. The KiXX responded to knot the game, 1-1, as newcomer Daniel Antoniuk found the back of a net on a pass off the boards from Philadelphia native Pat Morris at 14:53. The tally, the first for Antoniuk in a KiXX uniform, snapped Philadelphia's scoreless streak of 119 minutes, dating back to the second quarter of the club's School Day match versus the Milwaukee Wave on February 16. The Force kicked-off the second period with three unanswered goals to take a 4-1 lead less than five minutes into the quarter. John Ball started the scoring barrage on a dish from midfielder Robbie Aristodemo just 57 seconds into the stanza, followed by a Martinez score on a pass from Handsor at 4:09. A mere 30 seconds later (4:39), Kyt Selaidopoulos concluded the offensive assault with a blast just under the cross bar off the second assist for Handsor. Philadelphia defender Jeremy Aldrich finally ended the team's scoring drought with his first goal of the season off the cross from player/coach Don D'Ambra at 5:02. Handsor notched his third point of the day, a goal on a feed from Martinez at 7:50, to conclude the half with Cleveland leading by three, 5-2. Cleveland continued to roll in the second half, as defender Matt Johnson recorded the only goal of the third quarter (1:50) to extend the club's advantage to four, 6-2, on Martinez's third assist of the contest. Aaron Susi and Ball concluded the game's scoring, each with a notch to give Cleveland an 8-2 victory. Susi connected first on a feed from Ball at 11:06 of the fourth quarter, followed by Ball's second score of the day on a dish from Handsor at 13:53.
Comets 4, KiXX 0 (2/19): After a scoreless first period, Kansas City's Miodrag Djersilo opened the scoring with a restart goal on a pass from teammate Vlatko Andonovski at 2:53 of the second quarter. Andonovski increased the Comets' advantage to two, 2-0, with a score off a dish from forward Jamar Beasley at 7:03. Defender Oswaldo Medina found the back of the net to continue Kansas City's scoring barrage with the team's third unanswered goal at 10:36 of the stanza. Beasley concluded the game's scoring with a tally from Casey Barton at 6:28 of the third quarter to give the Comets a 4-0 victory over the visiting Philadelphia KiXX. The 4-0 loss marks just the second occasion that the KiXX have been held scoreless in franchise history. The club was also shutout versus the Dallas Sidekicks, 1-0, at the Reunion Arena on January 25, 2004.
KiXX RECORD:
Overall: 16-11
Home: 9-5
Road: 7-6
PREVIOUS RESULTS:
2/16 vs. Milwaukee Wave â L, 6-2
2/19 @ Kansas City Comets â L, 4-0
2/20 @ Cleveland Force â L, 8-2
THIS WEEK'S GAMES:
2/25 @ Chicago Storm â 8:35 pm ET
2/26 vs. Cleveland Force â 7:05 pm ET
• Discuss this story on the Major Indoor Soccer League 2 message board...
Major Indoor Soccer League 2 Stories from February 21, 2005
- Milwaukee Wave weekly - Milwaukee Wave
- Philadelphia drops three consecutive games to fall to 16-11 overall this season - Philadelphia KiXX
- Steamers player/coach Daryl Doran undergoes successful knee surgery - St. Louis Steamers
- MISL names players of the week - MISL 2
- Force weekly - Cleveland Force
- Force places defender on waivers - Cleveland Force
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