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Philadelphia splits two weekend contests; prepares for midweek battle with Kansas City

March 8, 2004 - Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2)
Philadelphia KiXX News Release


Philadelphia, PA, March 8, 2004 – The Philadelphia KiXX, who split a pair of games this past weekend, return to action on Tuesday, March 9, to entertain the Kansas City Comets in a rare-midweek battle in the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL). The night, dubbed "Chamber Night" offers special discounts and promotions to area chamber members and their families. Game-time at the Wachovia Spectrum is scheduled for 7:05 pm ET. Philadelphia then travels to Monterrey, Mexico to battle the Fury for the final time of the 2003-04 regular season on Sunday, March 14. Game-time at the Monterrey Arena is scheduled for 7:35 pm ET.

The club enters this week's action trailing the defending MISL Champion Baltimore Blast by four full games for the top spot in the Eastern Division with two games in-hand.

This Week's Itinerary:

Monday, March 8, Off-Day

Tuesday, March 9, KiXX v. Kansas City Comets, Wachovia Spectrum, 7:05 pm

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

Thursday, March 11, Practice, Tri-State Sports, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm

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

Saturday, March 13, Travel to Monterrey

Sunday, March 14, KiXX @ Monterrey Fury, Arena Monterrey, 7:35 pm

*all times are Eastern Standard and subject to change

Injury Report:

Player Injury Status

Shawn Boney Foot Out

Matt Brooks Abdominal Out

Byron Carmichael Concussion Questionable

Peter Pappas Finger/Ankle Questionable

KiXX vs. Comets

2003-2004: 1-2 Home: 0-1 Away: 1-1

Overall: 13-13 (home 7-5, away 6-8)

Philadelphia suffered its first home loss of the 2003-04 season to the Kansas City Comets by a score of 11-9 on Saturday, November 15. KiXX forward Goran Vasic led all scorers with a career-high six assists in the contest, while newcomer Jamar Beasley led Kansas City with four points on three goals and one assist. The KiXX avenged the loss by knocking-off Kansas City, 13-8, on their home turf at Kemper Arena on November 28. Player/coach Don D'Ambra led the attack with a season-high four goals and one assist for five points, while Vasic and Joel Shanker each chipped in four tallies. The Comets bumped off the club, 6-5, in the clubs' last outing at Kemper Arena on January 10, thanks to a three-goal performance from reigning MISL MVP Dino Delevski. Last season, Philadelphia won the 2002-03 season series versus the Comets, three-games-to-two, to mark the third consecutive year the KiXX have claimed the season series. Overall, the clubs have squared-off a total of 26 times with each team winning 13 games. The squads have met only once in post-season play, on April 19, 2003, in the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) Semifinals; the KiXX claimed a 18-13 victory to advance to the League Finals, before defeating the favored Milwaukee Wave, two-games-to-one, in the MISL Finals to claim their first League Championship in franchise history. Tuesday, March 9, marks the final meeting between the two teams in the regular season.

KiXX vs. Fury:

2003-2004: 2-1 Home: 1-1 Away: 1-0

Overall: 2-1 (home 1-1, away 1-0)

The Philadelphia KiXX and the Monterrey Fury squared-off for the first time in franchise history on November 22. KiXX forward Shawn Boney recorded a personal-best four goals to lead the club to an 8-5 victory over Monterrey at the Wachovia Spectrum. Former Harrisburg Heat defender Genoni Martinez led the Fury with three goals and one assist for four points. In their last meeting, the Fury knocked-off Philadelphia, 7-6, in overtime at the Wachovia Spectrum on January 24. Player/Coach Don D'Ambra had his hand in each of the club's six goals, finishing with six points on four goals and two assists. The KiXX then earned a 5-4 victory on January 19, the club's first trip to the Monterrey Arena in franchise history. Monterrey was granted an MISL expansion team on July 14, 2003, with play beginning in the 2003-04 campaign. Former KiXX midfielder Gary DePalma was selected by the Fury in the League Expansion Draft, but was shortly thereafter traded to the Milwaukee Wave in exchange for the first round pick in the 2004 MISL Amateur Draft. Martinez, who also played for Philadelphia in a brief stint during the 1999-00 campaign, was acquired in the MISL Dispersal Draft. Sunday's meeting is the fourth and final meeting between the two clubs this season.

Attendance Keeps Rising: The club's attendance is on the rise during the 2003-04 campaign ... through 13 home games this season, the KiXX have hosted an average 5,456 patrons each outing, including a season-high school day crowd of 10,153 fans versus the Cleveland Force on February 11 ... the average ranks the club fourth in the nine-team MISL this season ... last season, the club averaged 3,698 fans through the first 13 home games of the 2002-03 season ... the 1,758 fans per contest difference equals an increase of 48% this season.

Magic Number Down to Two: Philadelphia's magic number to clinch a berth in the 2004 MISL playoffs is now down to two ... any combination of KiXX victories and/or San Diego Sockers/St. Louis Steamers losses that equals two, will qualify the team for their eighth consecutive playoff appearance ... the club has qualified for post-season play in each of their previous seven years of existence.

KiXX by the Numbers: The Philadelphia KiXX offense has recorded 162 goals in 28 contests this season to post an average of 5.8 goals scored per game ... the average ranks the club fifth in the nine-team League, trailing the Milwaukee Wave, Kansas City Comets, Baltimore Blast and the Dallas Sidekicks ... the team's defense has allowed 141 goals for an average of 5.0 goals per contest, sitting the squad third in the MISL, trailing Dallas and Milwaukee ... the complete breakdown of the team's goals per game is listed below.

Goals per Game 1st 2nd 3rd 4th OT TOTAL

KiXX 34 47 36 44 1 162

Opponents 30 26 40 43 2 141

Plus/Minus with Man Advantage: The KiXX have both benefited and suffered from the power play this season ... the team currently sits fifth in the MISL on the one-man advantage situations, connecting on the power-play 45.2 percent (14-of-31) of the time ... the club connected on two-of-its-three man-advantage opportunities versus San Diego (3/7) ... Philadelphia's defense, however, has fallen victim to the power-play, turning away only 20-of-the-39 situations or 51.3 percent of the time they have defended the man advantage, ranking the club eighth in the nine-team League on the penalty-kill ...

All-Stars Shining Bright: This season, five members of the Philadelphia KiXX were selected to the 2004 MISL All-Star Game and each of the selections are holding true to form ... player/coach Don D'Ambra, who represented MISL USA in his second all-star appearance, recorded five points in the club's 1-1 weekend, including a game-high four points (two goals, two assists) versus the San Diego Sockers (3/7) ... the 32-year-old forward has now recorded at least one point in 10 of the team's last 13 contests ... Philadelphia native Pat Morris, three-time all-star who also competed with Team USA, paced the team with six points on four goals and two assists in the two weekend games ... the 26-year old defender registered a hat trick in Philadelphia 10-9 loss in Baltimore (3/5) ... International All-Star Goran Vasic added an assist versus San Diego (3/7) and currently leads the club with 40 total points ... netminder Peter Pappas, who was forced to miss his seventh all-star game after suffering a fractured finger versus the Milwaukee Wave (2/22), stepped in replacement of Stuart Dobson (serving a two-minute tripping penalty) and not only denied the Sockers' Mariano Bollella on the penalty kick, but also made three saves on three chances ... forward Joel Shanker was selected to his third all-star contest, but failed to appear in the contest due to injury (hamstring) ... the St. Louis, MO native has also missed the team's last two outings.

First Strike: The KiXX have launched out of the gates, recording the first goal in 16 of their 28 total contests this season ... the team has shown the benefits from connecting first, posting an 12-4 record in those games ... player/coach Don D'Ambra leads the club and the MISL with six first goals this season ... when the opposition notches the first score, Philadelphia posts a 5-7 mark.

Road to Victory: After dropping a 10-9 decision in Baltimore on March 5, the KiXX now own an 8-7 record when playing away from home this season ... that road mark is one of only three over .500 in the nine-team League in the 2003-04 campaign ... the Wave holds the MISL's best road record at 9-5, with the Baltimore Blast close behind at 8-6 ... with only three road dates remaining, the club is guaranteed to at least match their 8-10 road mark from last season.

Next Iron Man: Philadelphia native Pat Morris has become a permanent fixture for the KiXX backline and is truly becoming the franchise's iron man ... the five-year veteran defender has appeared in 175 of the team's 192 total contests since he first stepped onto the floor as a rookie in the 1999-00 season ... Morris did not miss a single game in both the 2000-01 and the 2002-03 campaigns and is currently in the midst of a franchise-best 93 consecutive games played streak.

Last Time Out: KiXX 7, Sockers 6 (3/7): KiXX player/coach Don D'Ambra gave the club an early 1-0 lead on a nice feed off the boards from Pat Morris at 2:22 of the opening quarter, but San Diego responded with a pair of goals (Mariano Bollella at 3:23, Paul Dougherty at 8:22) to enter the second period with a 2-1 advantage. Bollella opened the second with a pair of goals to complete his hat trick and propel the Sockers to a 4-1 lead. Morris cut the deficit to two, 4-2, as he blasted a power-play goal from the top of the arc at 12:45 of the stanza. Team captain Kevin Sloan then added a pair of goals to conclude the second quarter scoring and knot the game at 4-4 entering the half. Sloan completed his hat trick at 8:34 of the third quarter, but Bollella responded with his fourth notch of the day at 10:45. D'Ambra quickly converted his second opportunity of the game on a feed from teammate Goran Vasic a mere 15 seconds later (11:00) to give Philadelphia a 6-5 advantage entering the final quarter of play. With defender Jeremy Aldrich (tripping) and Sloan (dangerous play) each in the box serving a penalty, San Diego's Aristodemo was able to even the score, 6-6, with a tally from Dougherty at 3:12 of the fourth period, but Guastaferro took a D'Ambra rebound off the boards and knocked into the back of the net to record the game-winning goal, 7-6 at 13:40 of the quarter; it was Guastaferro's first game winner of his career. KiXX midfielder Les Lunsford appeared in the 100th game of his career today. Stuart Dobson (2-4) earned the victory in net for Philadelphia, turning away 13 of the 19 shots he faced, while Riley Swift (0-2) took the loss between the posts for the Sockers with 13 saves on 20 chances.

Blast 10, KiXX 9 (3/5): Baltimore bolted out of the gates to a 4-1 lead after one full period of play, courtesy of a pair of scores from 2004 MISL All-Star Game MVP Guiliano Celenza and single tallies from Lee Tschantret and Carlos Garcia; KiXX midfielder Andy Guastaferro ended the first period action with an unassisted notch at 13:06. After P.J. Wakefield knocked in the Blast's fifth goal of the game, Philadelphia recorded three unanswered goals to enter the half trailing by one, 5-4. Tony McPeak netted a pair of strikes, marking his first multi-goal performance of his career, followed by a goal from defender Jeremy Aldrich. Denison Cabral connected just over a the one-minute mark of the third period (1:10) to extend the Blast lead to two, 6-4, but Guastaferro quickly responded after he stripped the ball from veteran forward David Bascome and scorched a shot past Hileman. Player/coach Don D'Ambra then found teammate Pat Morris on the far post, who easily deposited the ball between the posts, knotting the game even, 6-6, for the first time of the evening. Rich Daughtridge concluded the third quarter scoring at 10:43, as Baltimore held a one-point advantage, 7-6, entering the final period of play. Ze Roberto and Morris registered tallies early in the fourth to give the club its first lead of the game, 8-7, but the Blast recorded the next three scores to earn a 10-9 victory. Stuart Dobson fell to 1-4 with loss between the posts for Philadelphia, while Scott Hileman (19-7) earned the victory for the Blast.

KiXX on the MISL Leaderboard (as of 3/8):

#10 Goran Vasic

Tied 2nd MISL with 30 assists

9th MISL with 40 points

#11 Don D'Ambra

1st MISL with six first goals

Tied 2nd MISL with five game-winning goals

Tied 3rd MISL with 30 total goals

Tied 11th MISL with 37 points

#17 Pat Morris

2nd MISL with 59 blocks

#22 Peter Pappas

1st MISL with a .775 save percentage

2nd MISL with 15 victories and 338 saves

3rd MISL with a 4.44 goals against average

5th MISL with 1323 minutes played

Future Games: The team remains on the road to square-off against the Cleveland Force on Friday, March 19, before returning to the Wachovia Spectrum on Saturday, March 20 to entertain the St. Louis Steamers. The KiXX-Force meeting is slated for a 7:35 pm ET kick-off at the Convocation Center at CSU, while the Philadelphia-St. Louis matchup will start at 7:05 pm ET. For more information or to purchase tickets for any remaining KiXX home contest, contact the club's Executive Office at 1-888-888-KiXX (5499) or log onto the team's official website, www.kixxonline.com.

The Philadelphia KiXX are a member of the Major Indoor Soccer League, a single-entity organization that features a coast-to-coast presence across the United States. The club is entering its eighth season of play in the Wachovia Spectrum located in Philadelphia, PA. For more information, please contact David Deal, KiXX Director of Communications, in the office at (215) 952-5431 or via cell at (267) 688-4127. The Communications Department can also be reached via email, at ddeal@kixxonline.com.

KiXX RECORD:

Overall: 17-11

Home: 9-4

Road: 8-7

vs. Eastern Division Opponents: 7-2

vs. Central Division Opponents: 4-5

vs. Western Division Opponents: 6-4

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS:

3/5 @ Baltimore Blast – L, 10-9

3/7 vs. San Diego Sockers – W, 7-6

THIS WEEK'S GAMES:

3/9 vs. Kansas City Comets – 7:05 pm ET

3/14 @ Monterrey Fury – 7:35 pm ET



Major Indoor Soccer League 2 Stories from March 8, 2004


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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