Philadelphia KiXX Weekly

October 25, 2004 - Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2)
Philadelphia KiXX News Release


Philadelphia, PA, October 25, 2004 – The Philadelphia KiXX kicked-off the 2004-05 season with an 11-8 victory over the Cleveland Force at the Convocation Center at CSU on Saturday, October 23. The team next travels to Baltimore on Friday, November 5 to battle the two-time defending Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) Champion Baltimore Blast in the first game of a back-to-back set; the KiXX then welcome Baltimore to the Wachovia Spectrum on Saturday, November 6 to kick-off their 2004-05 home season. Game-time at the 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore is scheduled for 7:35 pm ET, while Saturday's contest is slated for 7:05 pm ET.

This Week's Itinerary:

Monday, October 25, Off-Day

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

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

Thursday, October 28, Practice, Tri-State Sports, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm

Friday, October 29, Practice, Tri-State Sports, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm

Saturday, October 30, Off-Day

Sunday, October 31, Off-Day

*all times are Eastern and subject to change

Injury Report:

Player Injury Status

Drew Kopp Knee Questionable

Peter Pappas Neck Questionable

KiXX vs. Blast

2004-05 Series: 0-0 (home 0-0, away 0-0)

Overall: 31-23 (home 17-10, away 14-13)

The November 5 contest is the first of eight meetings between Philadelphia and the Baltimore Blast this season ... the Blast, fresh off their second consecutive MISL Championship, experienced several roster shake-ups for the 2004-05 campaign ... first MISL Finals MVP and goalkeeper Scott Hileman announced his retirement leaving the team with only one experienced netminder (Brian Rowland) ... Baltimore addressed the issue by shipping former KiXX forward Chris Handsor to the Cleveland Force in exchange for the playing rights to Sagu, who was acquired from Dallas in the 2004 MISL Dispersal Draft ... in addition to Handsor and Hileman, Baltimore will have to do without the services of all-star defender Wendell Regis, who was also dealt to Cleveland ... the Blast also signed indoor veteran Scott Schweitzer to a contract for 2004-05 ... last season, the clubs split the six total meetings, with each team winning the series, two-games-to-one on their home turf.

Opening Night Fever: With the team's 2004-05 season-opening victory over Cleveland on October 23, the KiXX improve to 6-3 all-time on opening night in the team's nine-year history ... the win marks only the club's second road victory to open a season ... Philadelphia opened the 2003-04 campaign at the San Diego Sockers and earned a 5-2 victory.

PennLive Broadcasts: The team has partnered with PennLive.com to webcast their first two road dates of the 2004-05 season ... the two-game package kicked-off with the team's season-opening victory in Cleveland on October 23 and will conclude on Friday, November 5 when the club travels to the 1st Mariner Arena to battle the Baltimore Blast ... the contest can be heard live by logging onto www.PennLive.com, beginning at 7:30 pm ET ... veteran indoor soccer play-by-play announcer and former Harrisburg Heat radio voice John Wilsbach will provide the call for the webcast.

Morris Dons Team's First Weekly Honor: The MISL announced today that KiXX captain and defender Pat Morris was named the League's Defensive Player of the Week for the seven-day period ending October 24 ... Morris stabilized the KiXX backline, while leading all scorers with four points on three goals and one assist ... the honor marks the first such accolade for the team in the 2004-05 campaign ... the nomination is the fourth of his career; he also received the weekly honor for the seven-day periods ending December 28, 2004, January 11, 2004 and February 8, 2004.

New Gear:: The KiXX recently announced that the club has partnered with the German-based uniform supplier, JAKO ... per the partnership, JAKO becomes the official uniform supplier of the KiXX through the 2006-07 campaign ... JAKO will also provide the club with all training apparel, travel equipment and practice gear ... based in Germany and founded 15 years ago, JAKO (pronounced YAW-ko) provides uniforms and equipment for many leading European clubs, including several Bundesliga sides ... for more information on the company, check out their website, www.jakousa.com.

Bench Additions: Assistant Coach Sam Lee will have plenty of company on the team's bench this season ... Kevin Sloan, after serving as team captain, each of the past three seasons, becomes player/assistant coach, while Adam Bruckner also joins the ranks as an assistant coach in 2004-05 ... Bruckner, a five-year indoor veteran, spent the previous three seasons in Philadelphia's backline and was honored as the MISL's Humanitarian of the Year at the Commissioner's Gala during the 2004 MISL All-Star Weekend in St. Louis, MO.

New Faces in the Crowd: The KiXX roster features seven new faces for 2004-05 ... newcomers John Barry Nusum and Gary Brooks join the club as targets, while Ptah Myers and Devlin Barnes, who played together at UMASS, each compete for a spot on the KiXX backline with Philadelphia native Chris Fehrle ... Gloucester Township, NJ native Jeff Moore joins the club after competing with the NY/NJ Metrostars of Major League Soccer (MLS) in 2002 and Damien Pottinger signed as free-agent forward ... with the exception of Moore, who trained with the squad briefly last season, each player participated in team's invitational combine that was held on September 11-12 ... Myers and Nusum each notched a goal in the team's victory in Cleveland on October 23.

All Around the World: With the addition of the club's newcomers, the KiXX now hail from nine different countries from all around the world ... 11 of the 20 current players were born and raised in the United States, while Peter Pappas and rookie forward Damien Pottinger each call Toronto, Ontario their home ... of the veterans, defender Edgar Bartolomeu hails from Angola, Africa, Shawn Boney was born in Tacarigua, Trinidad, Ze Roberto is a product of Belem, Brazil, Goran Vasic is a native of Belgrade, Yugoslavia and netminder Stuart Dobson is from Beverley, England ... rookies John Barry Nusum and Gary Brooks are from Devonshire, Bermuda and Kingston, Jamaica, respectively.

KiXX 11, Force 8 (10/23): Philadelphia kicked-off the 2004-05 season with an 11-8 victory versus the Cleveland Force at the Convocation Center at CSU on October 23. Les Lunsford notched the game's first goal on a dish from teammate Ze Roberto at 4:49 of the first quarter. Myles Stoddard then knotted the game at 1-1, but the KiXX responded with three unanswered scores to take a 4-1 lead into the half. Newcomer Ptah Myers struck first, followed by Goran Vasic and defender Pat Morris. The Force bolted out of the gates in third, registering six goals in the quarter, but Philadelphia responded with three of their own to enter the final period tied at 7-7. After Sipho Sibiya connected with a tally to give Cleveland an 8-7 advantage just under minute into the fourth stanza, the KiXX registered four unanswered goals, including the game winner from player/coach Don D'Ambra on a dish to the top of the arc from Kevin Sloan at 4:01 of the period. Morris led all scorers in the contest with four points (three goals, assist), while five players paced the Force with two points each. Former KiXX members, Chris Handsor and Gary DePalma, each notched a pair of points. Stuart Dobson earned the victory in net for Philadelphia, stopping 18 of the 26 shots he faced, while Jim Larkin took the loss for the Force with 12 saves on 22 chances.

KiXX RECORD:

Overall: 1-0

Home: 0-0

Road: 1-0

vs. Eastern Division Opponents: 1-0

vs. Central Division Opponents: 0-0

vs. Western Division Opponents: 0-0

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS:

10/23 @ Cleveland Force – W, 11-8

NEXT GAMES:

11/5 @ Baltimore Blast – 7:35 pm

11/6 vs. Baltimore Blast – 7:05 pm

MISL STANDINGS (as of 10/25):

Eastern Division W-L PCT GB Central Division W-L PCT GB Western Division W-L PCT GB

Philadelphia KiXX1-0 1.000 --- Milwaukee Wave 1-0 1.000 --- Kansas City Comets 1-0 1.000 ---

Baltimore Blast 1-1 .500 0.5 St. Louis Steamers 0-0 .000 0.5 Monterrey 0-0 .000 0.5

Cleveland Force 0-1 .000 1.0 Chicago Storm 0-1 .000 1.0 San Diego Sockers 1-2 .333 1.0



Major Indoor Soccer League 2 Stories from October 25, 2004


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