Sidekicks host Cleveland Saturday in quarterfinal game
April 7, 2004 - Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2)
Dallas Sidekicks News Release
The Dallas Sidekicks (21-15) host the Cleveland Force (15-21) in the MISL Quarterfinal at Reunion Arena. The Sidekicks are the No. 3 seed as the MISL Western Division Champions and the Force is the No. 6 seed as the final wild card team. This is a single game round. If the Sidekicks win, they play at the second-seeded Baltimore Blast (25-11) Friday April 16 at 6:35 p.m. CT. The Sidekicks are 15-3 at home this season and have won nine-straight at Reunion Arena. The last loss was a 6-4 loss to the San Diego Sockers December 13. It is tied for the second-best home record in the league. Baltimore was also 15-3 while the Milwaukee Wave went 16-2.
The Sidekicks lost the season series to the Cleveland Force 3-1. It is the only season series the Sidekicks lost. The season results against Cleveland: 10/19 L, 6-5; 12/12 W, 8-2; 2/15 L, 7-6; 3/14 L, 4-0. The only win came in the most recent game at Reunion Arena, when Dallas prevailed 8-2 on December 12. Seven different Sidekicks scored in the first half of the match. David Doyle had two goals and an assist in that game.
Doyle co-led Dallas with five points against Cleveland this season. He had three goals and two assists in three games while Martin Dugas had two goals and three assists in just two games. Adauto Neto led the Force with five goals and two assists against Dallas in four games. Jim Larkin was 3-1 with a 5.14 gaa against Dallas, playing 210 of a possible 240 minutes. His best game was the most recent match when he had 31 saves in a 4-0 shutout win. D.J. Horvath went 1-1 for Dallas with a 5.31 gaa. The 7-6 loss February 15 was his second game with the Sidekicks.
The Dallas Sidekicks are back in the playoffs after a one-year absence. It is the 16th time in 19 seasons the Sidekicks have made the postseason, advancing to eight finals and winning four championships (1987, 1993, 1998, 2001). Dallas is 44-38 (.537) all-time in the playoffs with a 30-12 (.714) home record. The Sidekicks are 7-3 (.700) in the playoffs under Tatu and a perfect 5-0 at home.
This is the first time these teams have met in the postseason in 12 years. The Sidekicks defeated the Cleveland Crunch four games to two in a best-of-seven MISL semifinal series. Seven of the games' participants were also involved in that meeting. For the Sidekicks, current head coach Tatu, assistant coach Michael Powers, as well as David Doyle and Nick Stavrou played in that series. Current Force players Hector Marinaro, Zoran Karic, and Otto Orf were playing for Cleveland.
GETTING IN THE 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 also finished with a .500 or better record for the 15th time in 19 seasons.
RADIO: All Sidekicks 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.
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 84-68 (.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 - 686, Hector Marinaro of Cleveland - 685, Andy Chapman - 670), second for goals with 857 (Marinaro of Cleveland - 1223), second in assists with 728 (Zoran Karic of Cleveland - 848), third in points with 1585 (Marinaro - 1924, Karic - 1609), second in shots with 4396 (Marinaro - 5000), tied for second in game-winning goals with 77 (Marinaro - 100, Steve Zungul - 77), and first with 113 power play goals. Tatu is also among the top-ranked on the all-time postseason career list. He is 16th in games played with 87 (Tim Tyma - 89), third with 91 assists (Karic - 189, Marinaro - 96), and seventh is goals with 87 (Doyle - 115, Zungul - 113, Mark Moser - 110). He is sixth in points with 178 (Zungul - 189, Doyle - 186), fifth in shots with 561 (Doyle - 563), and fourth in game winning goals with 12 (Marinaro - 17, Karic - 13, Zungul - 13). 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 1045 points from 637 goals and 408 assists. Doyle is in the top-20 on the career list of most offensive categories. He is eighth in goals with 637 (Michael King of Milwaukee - 674, Andy Chapman - 667), 16th in assists with 408 (Goran Hunjak - 437, Kim Roentved - 437), ninth in points with 1045 (King- 1057), tied for second in power play goals with 89 (Tatu - 113, Steve Zungul - 89), and fourth in game-winning goals with 68 (Hector Marinaro of Cleveland - 100, Tatu - 77, Zungul - 77). Doyle is among the top ranked on the all-time postseason career list as well. He is fourth is goals with 115 (Zoran Karic of Cleveland - 137, Branko Segota - 130), tied for seventh in assists with 71 (Zungul - 76, Daryl Doran of St. Louis - 71), fifth in points with 186 (Segota - 219, Zungul - 189). He is second in power play goals with 17 (Zungul - 20), and tied for first in overtime goals with 3 (Chapman - 3, Karic - 3, Mitchell - 3, Zungul - 3). Doyle is near the top of the Sidekicks record book in several categories. He is fifth in games with 319 (Wes McLeod - 321), second in goals with 410 (Tatu - 736), third in assists with 298 (Tatu - 672, Kevin Smith - 299), second in points with 708 (Tatu - 1408), second in shots with 2116 (Tatu - 4182), fourth in blocks with 364 (Smith - 387), second in power play goals with 63 (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 708 points with the Sidekicks on 410 goals and 298 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).
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 304 (David Doyle-319). He is ranked in the top five of the Sidekicks record book in almost every offensive category. He is third in goals with 207 (Tatu-736, Doyle-410), and fourth in assists with 163 (Kevin Smith-299, Doyle-298), in points with 370 (Doyle-708, Smith-454), and third in shots with 992 (Doyle-2116). He is also fifth in blocks with 358 (Smith-387, Doyle-364). 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.
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