Sidekicks Home Finale Saturday 7pm vs. St. Louis

March 31, 2004 - Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2)
Dallas Sidekicks News Release


The MISL Western Division Champion Dallas Sidekicks (20-14) finish their 2003-04 home schedule against the St. Louis Steamers (13-20). Dallas is looking to sweep the Steamers as they lead the series 3-0. Dallas has won their last eight home games and is currently 14-3 at home. Dallas is undefeated when facing a Central Division team at home. This is the first game of a back-to-back ending for the Sidekicks. They face the Monterrey Fury at the Monterrey Arena on Sunday 4/4 for their last regular season game. They are 5-3 in the first game of a back-to-back, and 5-0 when the first game is at home.

David Doyle has 88 career power play goals and is one shy of tying Steve Zungul for second all-time at 89. Tatu is the all-time leader with 113.

PLAYOFFS: Dallas claimed the Western Division Championship and third seed in the MISL Playoffs. The Sidekicks clinched the division with an 8-3 victory over the St. Louis Steamers on March 17. This will be the Sidekicks 16th trip to the playoffs in 19 seasons. The Sidekicks will also finish with a .500 or better record for the 15th time in 19 seasons. The Sidekicks are third seed in the MISL playoffs and will host the yet to be determined number six seed at Reunion Arena Saturday April 10 at 7:35 p.m. This is a one-game semifinal. Dallas is 14-3 at Reunion Arena so far this season. The winner would advance to play at the second seeded team, which will be either the Baltimore Blast or Milwaukee Wave.

RADIO: All Sidekicks regular season games are on KSKY 660 AM as well as at www.dallassidekicks.com and www.ksky.com. All broadcasts begin fifteen minutes prior to listed kickoff. Pete Stein calls the action while Robert Trammell serves as the analyst. Shawn Matthews reports from the bench.

HEAD COACH TATU: Tatu is in his sixth season as the Head Coach of the Dallas Sidekicks. Tatu led the Sidekicks to the World Indoor Soccer League finals in each of his first four years as head coach, winning the 1998 and 2001 titles. In 1998, Tatu replaced Gordon Jago, who retired as head coach. He has an 83-67 (.553) regular season record, and 7-3 (.700) postseason record. On March 23, 2003, Tatu retired from playing 21 seasons of indoor soccer, 18 seasons with the Sidekicks. Tatu is near the top of the career list in several categories. He finished his career second with 21 seasons played (Victor Nogueira of San Diego - 24), seventh with 633 games played (Michael King of Milwaukee - 684, Hector Marinaro of Cleveland - 683, Andy Chapman - 670), second for goals with 857 (Marinaro of Cleveland - 1222), second in assists with 728 (Zoran Karic of Cleveland - 848), third in points with 1585 (Marinaro - 1922, Karic - 1609), second in shots with 4396 (Marinaro - 4991), tied for second in game-winning goals with 77 (Marinaro - 100, Steve Zungul - 77), and first with 113 power play goals. He has been part of all four Sidekicks' championship teams, winning titles in 1987, 1993, 1998, and 2001. Tatu is a six-time MVP, 11-time scoring champion, 12-time all-star, and three-time championship series MVP. Tatu is the only person to earn Player of the Year and Coach of the Year awards in the same season accomplishing this great achievement in 1998. He also holds Sidekicks franchise records for seasons - 18, games - 557, goals - 736, assists - 672, points - 1408, shots - 4182, power play goals - 98, game-winning goals - 68, and overtime goals - 7.

DAVID DOYLE: This is Doyle's 12th season with the Sidekicks, the 19th of his career. He has accumulated 1040 points from 634 goals and 406 assists. Doyle is in the top-20 on the career list of most offensive categories. He is eighth in goals with 634 (Michael King of Milwaukee - 673, Andy Chapman - 667), 16th in assists with 406 (Goran Hunjak - 437, Kim Roentved - 437), ninth in points with 1040 (King- 1056), third in power play goals with 88 (Tatu - 113, Steve Zungul - 89), and fourth in game-winning goals with 68 (Hector Marinaro of Cleveland - 100, Tatu - 77, Zungul - 77). Doyle is near the top of the Sidekicks record book in several categories. He is fifth in games with 317 (Wes McLeod - 321), second in goals with 407 (Tatu - 736), third in assists with 296 (Tatu - 672, Kevin Smith - 299), second in points with 703 (Tatu - 1408), second in shots with 2102 (Tatu - 4182), fourth in blocks with 363 (Smith - 387), second in power play goals with 62 (Tatu - 98), second in game-winning goals with 45 (Tatu - 68), and third in overtime goals with 5 (Tatu - 7, Mark Karpun - 6). He has been selected to play in eight All-Star games, including the 2003-04 MISL All-Star game in St. Louis. He was the WISL MVP in 1998, and has been named to the All-League First Team six times. In 2001, he was named the Dallas Sidekicks MVP by the Dallas All Sports Association. Since his acquisition before the 1991-92 season, the Sidekicks have won Championships in 1993, 1998, and 2001.

Doyle has 703 points with the Sidekicks on 407 goals and 296 assists. He became the sixth player ever to reach 700 points with one franchise with a restart goal at 12:52 of the first quarter vs. St. Louis (3/17).

SAGU: Sagu is in his fifth year with the Sidekicks as well as the fifth of his career. He has played a total of 119 regular season games and eight postseason games. He has accumulated 6,928 minutes in goal. He faced 2,830 shots, saving 1,727 and allowing 513 goals for a save percentage of .771. His record is 59-54 (.522) in five seasons. Sagu holds the record for consecutive shut out minutes at 118:14 from 1/24 - 1/31/04, most assists by a Sidekicks goalkeeper with 16 and penalty minutes served by a goalkeeper with 61. He is ranked in the top three of the Sidekicks record book in almost every goalkeeper category. He is third in minutes with 6,546 (Krys Sobieksi-10,785, Joe Papaleo-10,529), third in shots faced with 2,605 (Papaleo-5565, Sobieski-4752), and third in saves with 1,589 (Papaleo-2363, Sobieski-2014). He is also third in wins with 57 (Papaleo-104, Sobieski-98). He has recorded 451:12 minutes in the postseason with a record of 6-2 (0.75). He has faced 144 shots, recorded 90 saves (.776 save percentage) and 26 goals allowed. Sagu will make his first All-Star appearance in the 2003-04 MISL All-Star game in St. Louis on the International Team. This season, he was named MISL Goalkeeper of the month of December, and named MISL Goalkeeper of the week three times. He was named WISL Goalkeeper of the year in 2000 and 2001 when he was also named to the All-WISL First Team.

NICK STAVROU: This is Stavrou's 12th season with the Sidekicks. Stavrou has spent his entire professional career with the Sidekicks. He is ranked sixth on the Sidekicks all-time list in games played with 302 (David Doyle-317). He is ranked in the top five of the Sidekicks record book in almost every offensive category. He is third in goals with 205 (Tatu-736, Doyle-407), and fourth in assists with 163 (Kevin Smith-299, Doyle-296), in points with 368 (Doyle-703, Smith-454), and third in shots with 987 (Doyle-2102). He is also fifth in blocks with 357 (Smith-387, Doyle-363). He is first in vs. sixth attacker goals with 9 (David Reichart-5, Doyle-4, Tatu-4) and fifth in game-winning goals with 15 (Mark Karpun-21, Beto-17). The Sidekicks made the playoffs each of his first ten seasons where he played 44 games with 26 goals and 20 assists for 46 points. Named to the All-WISL Second-Team two times. He was part of the 1993, 1998, and 2001 Championship teams.

SERIES HISTORY VS. ST. LOUIS: This is the fourth and final meeting between the two teams. Dallas leads the series 3-0. Dallas is 10-3 against this St. Louis Steamers franchise all time. Game 31 - 3/17/2004 at St. Louis: The Dallas Sidekicks clinched the MISL Western Division title with an 8-3 win over the St. Louis Steamers at the Family Arena Wednesday night. The win seals a playoff berth for the Sidekicks and gives them home-field advantage for the first round of the MISL playoffs. The Sidekicks (18-13) kept the Steamers scoreless for 37:14 and scored four goals in that time to solidify the victory. David Doyle started the four-goal run at 12:52 of the first. The goal was Doyle's 700th point with the Sidekicks from 404 goals and 296 assists and is the sixth player ever to reach 700 points with one franchise. Martin Nash followed Doyle's goal with his second goal of the night at 11:17 of the second quarter. Kiley Couch and Mark Rowland would also score at 14:07 of the second and 2:53 of the third respectively to close the run. Sterling Wescott attempted a come-back for the Steamers (11-18) with a third quarter tally at 14:04, but Nick Stavrou counteracted the attempt by scoring a buzzer beater with only three seconds left in the third. Patrick Shamu and Stavrou recorded goals late in the fourth quarter to seal the victory for Dallas. Sidekicks goalkeeper DJ Horvath allowed only 3 goals for the fifth consecutive game. Fernando Errecalde started the scoring for St. Louis at 4:32 and Nash followed for Dallas with an unassisted goal at 6:09 of the first. This is the 18th victory of the season and guarantees the Sidekicks a .500 or better record for the 15th time in 19 seasons. Game 9 - 11/29/03 vs St. Louis: David Doyle had three goals and an assist as the Dallas Sidekicks defeated the St. Louis Steamers 8-3 in front of 6,207 fans at Reunion Arena Saturday. Dallas led 2-1 at the half before scoring five third-quarter goals to break the game open. The Sidekicks (5-4) set the tone quickly after the half when Sinisa Alebic scored 51 seconds into the third period. Doyle followed with a tally at 3:19. Patrick Shamu made it 5-1 at 4:22. St. Louis interrupted the run when Steve Butcher found the net at 6:24. Dallas scored twice more in the frame; Martin Dugas at 8:13 and Fabinho at 14:49. The Sidekicks entered the game with the league's worst goal differential in the third stanza at minus eight. It was the first time Dallas had scored five in the third since a 7-5 win over the Utah Freezz November 10, 2001. The Sidekicks controlled possession most of the fourth to stave off any St. Louis (2-7) rally. Craig Scheer did score for the Steamers at 5:37 to pull within 7-3. Doyle then notched his third goal of the game at 10:45 to finalize the 8-3 margin. This was the 46th hat trick for Doyle as a Sidekick. He is second to Tatu's franchise record of 85. Doyle's second goal of the game happened on his 2,000th shot as a Sidekick. Doyle is also second in shots to Tatu, who has 4,182. Doyle also had a power-play goal at 7:10 of the first quarter. It was his 60th with the Sidekicks as he became the fourth player in indoor soccer history to have that many with a single franchise. Tatu holds the all-time record with 98 as a Sidekick. Rookie Shaun David scored the first goal of the game at 6:49 of the opening period. It was his eighth of the season in nine games. He is five away from the Sidekicks rookie record of 13 set by Curtis Partain in 1994. Dallas has allowed three or fewer goals in five consecutive games and improved their league best goals allowed average to 3.77. Sagu improved his mark to 5-3 in goal for Dallas, making 10 saves and allowing three goals on the night. He improved his league-best goals against average to 3.30. Game 8 - 11/22/03 at St. Louis: The Dallas Sidekicks won their first road game of the season, defeating the St. Louis Steamers 5-2 at the Family Arena Saturday. The Sidekicks (4-4) led 4-2 late in the fourth, and held off the Steamers' comeback attempt when Jose Alvarado cleared the ball off of the Dallas goal line with 3:00 left to play. Alvarado had to drop-back as Sidekicks' goalkeeper Sagu was caught out of position at the top of the arc. Kiley Couch scored the empty-net goal at 14:10 of the fourth quarter to seal the victory for Dallas. St. Louis (2-4) pulled within two as Steve Butcher found the back of the net at 9:40 of the third with an assist from Steamers' goalkeeper Brett Phillips. The Sidekicks gained their three-goal lead as midfielder Fabinho scored on a shot that bounced off a St. Louis defender and over the head of Phillips. The Sidekicks built up a 3-0 lead at the end of the first quarter with goals from Shaun David at 1:37, Martin Dugas at 3:41 and David Doyle at 11:16. St. Louis got on the board with a goal from Daryl Doran at 12:08 of the second to make the score 3-1 going into halftime. Sidekicks goalkeeper Sagu is now 4-3 and continues to lead the league with a 3.34 goals-against average.



Major Indoor Soccer League 2 Stories from March 31, 2004


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