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Sidekicks Host Baltimore Saturday

January 20, 2004 - Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2)
Dallas Sidekicks News Release


The Dallas Sidekicks (11-9) begin a three-game home stand by hosting the Baltimore Blast (15-5) in a game between division leaders. The Blast have a 2.5 game lead on Philadelphia (11-6) in the Eastern Division while the Sidekicks hold a 1.5 game lead on San Diego (9-10) in the Western Division. This is the last of four meetings this season with the Blast holding a 2-1 season series advantage. The home team has won the previous three games this season and all have been decided by one goal (L 3-2 @ BAL 10/24, W 7-6 ot @ DAL 12/27, L 4-3 @ BAL 1/10). This is the front end of the Sidekicks sixth back-to-back this season. Dallas is 4-1 on the front end, 4-0 when the first game is at home. The only front-end loss was at Baltimore January 10.

David Doyle (296) needs three more assists to tie Kevin Smith (299) for second in Sidekicks history. Tatu is first with 672. Doyle has 697 points with the Sidekicks and needs three more to become the sixth player in history to reach 700 points with a single franchise.

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 and Robert Trammell serves as the analyst. Shawn Matthews reports from the sideline.

SIDEKICKS ON TV: Dallas has nine road games on KFWD Channel 52 this season. The Sidekicks are now 1-2 on KFWD this season. The television package also includes all Dallas Sidekicks' road playoff games for the 2004 Major Indoor Soccer League playoffs. Pete Stein will call the action and Robert Trammel will serve as the analyst. Prior to this season, the Sidekicks last televised game was on KSTR 49 December 22, 2001 when the Sidekicks defeated the San Diego Sockers for the 2001 World Indoor Soccer League championship. The Sidekicks most recently televised regular season games during the 1997 season, the final year of the Continental Indoor Soccer League.

2003-04 TV Schedule
Sat. Nov. 22 at St. Louis Steamers W, 5-2
Sat. Dec. 20 at San Diego Sockers L, 8-5
Sat. Jan. 10 at Baltimore Blast L, 4-3
Sun. Jan. 11 at Philadelphia Kixx L (ot) 5-4
Sat. Feb. 7 at Kansas City 7:30 p.m.
Sun. Feb. 15 at Cleveland Force 2:00 p.m.
Wed. Mar. 17 at St. Louis Steamers 7:30 p.m.
Sat. Mar. 20 at Milwaukee Wave 6:00 p.m.
Sun. Mar. 28 at Philadelphia Kixx 12:00 p.m.
All games live on KFWD Channel 52

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 a 74-62 (.544) 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 (Hector Marinaro of Cleveland - 671, Andy Chapman - 670, Michael King of Milwaukee - 667), second for goals with 857 (Marinaro of Cleveland - 1211), second in assists with 728 (Zoran Karic of Cleveland - 838), third in points with 1585 (Marinaro - 1902, Karic - 1596), second in shots with 4396 (Marinaro - 4922), 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 1034 points from 628 goals and 406 assists. Doyle is in the top-20 on the career list of almost every offensive category. He is eighth in goals with 628 (Michael King of Milwaukee - 663), 16th in assists with 406 (Goran Hunjak - 437, Kim Roentved - 437), ninth in points with 1034 (King- 1040), third in power play goals with 86 (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 309 (Wes McLeod - 321), second in goals with 401 (Tatu - 736), third in assists with 296 (Tatu - 672, Kevin Smith - 299), second in points with 697 (Tatu - 1408), second in shots with 2060 (Tatu - 4182), fourth in blocks with 359 (Smith - 387), second in power play goals with 60 (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 seven All-Star games. 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.

SAGU: Sagu is in his fifth year with the Sidekicks as well as the fifth of his career. He has played a total of 115 regular season games and eight postseason games. He has accumulated 6,688 minutes in goal. He faced 2,776 shots, saving 1692 and allowing 494 goals for a save percentage of .774. His record is 56-53 (.514) in five seasons. Sagu holds the record for most assists by a Sidekicks goalkeeper with 16. He also holds the Sidekicks record for penalty minutes served by a goalkeeper with 71. He is ranked in the top three of the Sidekicks record book in almost every goalkeeper category. He is third in minutes with 6,306 (Krys Sobieksi-10,785, Joe Papaleo-10,529), third in shots faced with 2,551 (Papaleo-5565, Sobieski-4752), and third in saves with 1,554 (Papaleo-2363, Sobieski-2014). He is also third in wins with 54 (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. 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 289 (David Doyle-309). He is ranked in the top five of the Sidekicks record book in almost every offensive category. He is third in goals with 198 (Tatu-736, Doyle-401), and fourth in assists with 158 (Kevin Smith-299, Doyle-296), in points with 356 (Doyle-697, Smith-454), and in shots with 946 (Smith-962). He is also fifth in blocks with 347 (Smith-387, Doyle-359). He is first in vs. sixth attacker goals with 8 (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.

TEAM HISTORY - BALTIMORE: This is the fourth and final time the Sidekicks will meet Baltimore this season. The Blast lead the series 2-1. Dallas defeated Baltimore 7-6 in overtime on 12/27 for Dallas' first overtime win since the 2001 season. Dallas was 17-36 against the original Blast from 1984-1992. Game 19 - 1/10/04 at Baltimore - The Dallas Sidekicks lost 3-4 in another close game to the Baltimore Blast at the 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore on Saturday night breaking the team's four-game win streak. Ricardinho led a comeback attempt by scoring a fourth quarter goal at 10:42, but it was not enough to give Dallas (11-8) the win. Baltimore (13-5) took at 3-2 lead after second quarter goals from Neil Gilbert at 5:07 and David Bascome at 6:57. It was a lead they would never relinquish. The Sidekicks took an early lead as Sinisa Alebic buried a shot from beyond the top of the arc only 1:54 into the game. Baltimore answered quickly at 3:19 with a goal from Lee Tschantret. Patrick Shamu would add one more for Dallas at 10:20 to go into the second quarter leading 2-1. Baltimore pulled ahead by two going into the fourth quarter with Bascome's second goal of the evening at 4:44 of the third. Chris Handsor had three assists for the night, assisting both Bascome's goals and Tschantret's tally. This is the first time Dallas has lost in the first game of a back-to-back this season. They are now 4-1 in the first game and 1-3 in the second game. Game 15 - 12/27/03 vs. Baltimore: Ricardinho's power play restart goal at 11:52 of overtime gave the Sidekicks a 7-6 victory against the Baltimore Blast at Reunion Arena Saturday. The win ended a ten-game losing streak in one-goal games and the Sidekicks franchise record of seven consecutive losses in overtime games. Dallas (8-7) gained the power play after Allen Eller was called for charging at 9:44 of the extra period. It was the third man-advantage of overtime after each team had killed a penalty. Baltimore (9-5) rallied from a 6-4 deficit in the fourth quarter and tied the game on a penalty kick by Denison Cabral at 11:38. The penalty attempt followed a blue card on Fabinho for holding inside the goalkeeper arc. P.J. Wakefield had the previous Blast goal at 6:27 of the same period. Dallas gained the 6-4 advantage when David Doyle scored at 3:10 of the fourth. Doyle is now at 1,026 points, one behind Andy Chapman for ninth all-time. The teams traded four goals in the third quarter. Martin Nash started the scoring for Dallas Sidekicks at 1:06, Wakefield for the Blast at 2:43, Patrick Shamu for the Sidekicks at 3:45, and Giuliano Celenza netted a restart for Baltimore at 12:42. Dallas led 3-2 at the half on goals from Jose Alavardo, Nick Stavrou, and Kiley Couch. Lee Tscahntret and Tarik Walker had the first quarter tallies for Baltimore. Game 5 - 10/24/03 at Baltimore: David Doyle gets his 400th career assist as the Sidekicks (2-3) lost their first road game of the season to the Baltimore Blast (2-2) 3-2 at the 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore. Sidekicks took a 2-1 lead with one second left in the half when Martin Dugas scored a power play goal from a bicycle kick. Doyle earned the assist by passing the ball off the glass to Dugas. Doyle now has 400 assists and 613 goals making him the tenth player all-time to have at least 400 in each category. PJ Wakefield scored the final goal and the game-winner for Baltimore from Carlos Farias at 2:47 of the fourth. Dallas had the lead through most of the third quarter until Denison Cabral tied the game at two at 11:34. Before Dugas gave Dallas the half-time lead, Lee Tschantret had tied the game at 1 at 14:02 in the second quarter. Baltimore missed an opportunity to tie Dallas with a penalty kick at 10:53 when Michael Curtis was called for tripping in the box. David Bascome took the penalty kick, but Dallas' keeper Sagu saved the attempt, Dallas' first penalty kick save since the 1988-89 season. Martin Nash opened the scoring for Dallas at 2:26 in the second, his third goal in three games. Brown assisted Nash giving him 5 goals and 2 assists, tying him for second in the league in scoring with seven. Doyle continues to lead the league in scoring with 11 points and assists with eight.

SERIES HISTORY - PHILADELPHIA: This is the second meeting between these two teams, the first in Philadelphia. Dallas took the first game 8-4 in Dallas during the annual 'Cool School' game on 10/22. Dallas is 2-3 overall against the Kixx. Game 20 - 1/11/04 at Philadelphia: David Doyle scored a hat trick and his 400th career goal with the Sidekicks as Dallas fell 5-4 in overtime to the Philadelphia Kixx at the Wachovia Spectrum Sunday afternoon. Nikola Vignjevic scored for Philadelphia at 13:04 of overtime on a shoot out with David Doyle in net for the Sidekicks. Dallas' goalkeeper Sagu was called for tripping at 13:01 in overtime as Don D'Ambra was on a break-away towards the Sidekicks goal, giving the Kixx the scoring opportunity. Beau Brown tied the game on a sixth-attacker goal just 53 seconds after Doyle entered the game to give the Sidekicks an offensive advantage. Doyle kept the Sidekicks (11-9) in the game by putting Dallas on the board at 4:16 of the third and by scoring on two more shots at 4:46 of the fourth on a restart, and 7:02 of the fourth. Doyle's second goal marked his 400th career goal with the Sidekicks, only the second player in team history to reach that mark. Tatu finished his career with 736. The Kixx followed up each of Doyle's first two tallies with goals in the fourth from Les Lunsford at 4:06 and Joel Shanker at 5:03. Philadelphia (10-6) scored the only two goals of the first half, scoring both within a minute of opening play in the first and second quarter. Kixx player/coach D'Ambra scored at 0:54 into the first, and Shawn Boney scored at 0:09 into the second. This was the third time this season the Sidekicks have been shut out in the first half, with each game ending in a loss. The Sidekicks hold a one game lead in the Western Division over the 9-9 San Diego Sockers. Game 4 - 10/22/03 vs. Philadelphia: The Sidekicks scored six second-half goals en route to an 8-4 victory over the Philadelphia Kixx in front of 8651 at Reunion Arena Wednesday. The win moves Dallas to 2-2 on the season and broke a four-game losing streak to Philadelphia (2-1). David Doyle gave the Sidekicks breathing room with a milestone goal at 3:41 of the forth quarter. The penalty kick gave Doyle 385 goals with the Sidekicks, tying him for sixth all-time with a single franchise. Joe Reiniger had 385 with the St. Louis Ambush. The score also gave him 59 power play goals in Dallas moving him to sole possession of fourth all-time with a single team, passing Kim Roentved of the Wichita Wings. Leo Pernia tallied the next goal for the Sidekicks with 2:43 to play. Martin Nash accounted for the assist by passing off the boards after winning a loose ball in the corner. The final goal came from Sidekicks' goalkeeper Sagu, who threw the ball over the head of Goran Vasic, the Philadelphia sixth-attacker. It was the third goal of Sagu's career and his first since the 2000 season. The game was tied at 3-3 until Beau Brown gave Dallas the lead for good at 12:58 of the third quarter. Brown followed at 1:32 of the fourth on a feed from Nick Stavrou. Shawn Boney pulled Philadelphia within one goal 30-seconds later, but Dallas shut down the Kixx offense the rest of the way. Pat Morris opened the scoring for Philadelphia with a restart goal at 3:01 in the first when Kevin Sloan fed him on a kick-in. The Sidekicks evened the match when rookie forward Shaun David scored his third goal of the season at 8:34 of the opening stanza. Stavrou earned the first of his two assists by pushing the ball to David from the defensive zone. Martin Nash gave Dallas its first lead on his second score in as many games. Doyle fed Nash for the go-ahead score with 29 seconds left in the opening period. Sloan was the only player to find the net in the second quarter, scoring at 4:04 as the teams went to the intermission tied at 2-2.

DÉJÀ VU: The Sidekicks face Baltimore and Philadelphia again this weekend after playing both teams on the road in their two previous games (1/10 & 1/11). Dallas dropped both one-goal games.

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