Sidekicks host Harrisburg Sat. 7pm & Baltimore Sun. 6pm
Published on October 8, 2002 under Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2)
Dallas Sidekicks News Release
The Dallas Sidekicks return home to face another unfamiliar foe, the Harrisburg Heat. For the second time in two home games, the Sidekicks face a franchise for the first time. But Harrisburg will not be completely unfamiliar as Erich Geyer coaches the Heat. Geyer was the longtime coach of Sidekicks rival Monterrey La Raza. Geyer has also brought many of his former La Raza players to Harrisburg, including Marco "Chikis" Lopez and Marco Coria. Coria and Lopez were part of the Sidekicks 2001 Championship team.
NEXT GAME: The Sidekicks host Baltimore Sunday, October 13 at 6:05pm. This will be the first time the Sidekicks have faced this Baltimore franchise.
RADIO: All Sidekicks games are on Fox Sports 1190 AM. They are also available on the internet at www.foxsports1190.com. All broadcasts begin five minutes prior to listed kickoff and will last three hours. Pete Stein calls the action and John Clemens hosts the halftime and post-game shows. There are two games that will be tape delayed on Fox Sports 1190 AM: November 6 (game starts at 10:45 a.m. and comes on 1190 AM at 6 p.m.) and December 31 (game starts at 1 p.m. and comes on 1190 AM at 6 p.m.).
PLAYER/HEAD COACH TATU: Tatu begins his 18th season as a player for the Dallas Sidekicks, his fifth as head coach. Tatu has led the Sidekicks to the World Indoor Soccer League finals all four years as head coach, winning the 1998 and 2001 Championships. In 1998, Tatu replaced Gordon Jago, who retired, as head coach. He has a 55-27 (.671) regular season record, and 7-3 (.700) postseason record. Tatu's .671 winning percentage is the best in indoor soccer history for anyone with more than 50 games as a head coach. PLAYER: Tatu is in his 21st season in indoor soccer, his 18th with the Sidekicks. Tatu enters the season near the top of the career list in several categories. He is ninth with 602 games played, second for goals with 840 (Hector Marinaro - 1188), second in assists with 701 (Zoran Karic - 821), third in points with 1541 (Marinaro - 1856, Karic - 1573), third in game-winning goals with 76 (Marinaro - 97, Steve Zungul - 77), and first with 110 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, 10-time all-star, and three-time championship series MVP. He also hold Sidekicks franchise records for games - 526, goals - 719, assists - 645, points - 1364, power play goals - 95, game-winning goals - 67, and overtime goals - 7.
MICHAEL POWERS #5 HONORED: The Sidekicks will retire Michael Powers #5 jersey at halftime of the Sidekicks game against Harrisburg October 12. He is the fourth Sidekicks player to have his jersey retired (Krys Sobieski - #31, Doc Lawson - #22, Kevin Smith - #10).
Michael Powers is in his 16th season with the Sidekicks, his second as an assistant coach. After 21 years and 650 games, including more than 500 with the Sidekicks, Powers retired from playing professional soccer after the 2001 season. He was a part of all four Sidekicks championships (1987, 1993, 1998, and 2001). Powers, known as "Mr. Defense", finished with 904 career blocks. He holds the Sidekicks record for blocks and is eighth all-time in professional indoor soccer. Powers was named Championship Defensive MVP in 1998. He was named to the All-League second team two times as well as to the All-Star team three times. Powers current duties include assisting with player contracts, coordinating team fitness schedules, and travel itineraries. He will continue to coordinate the Sidekicks youth 4-v-4 tournaments and assist with Sidekicks Camps. Powers earned his bachelor's degree in Industrial Relations at Rockhurst in 1980. He was a four-year starter at Rockhurst and earned All-America honors as a senior. He and his wife, Paula, have a daughter, Mary Colleen (3/6/1988), and a son, Dillon (2/14/1991).
LORDS OF THE RINGS: The Sidekicks will present the 2001 WISL championship rings to the team before Saturday's game. Retired players Rusty Troy and Terry Woodberry will be there as well as Marco Coria and Marco Lopez, which are part of the Harrisburg Heat roster.
CONNECTIONS: M-Marco Coria and M-Marco Lpoez played for the Sidekicks in 2001. M-Danny Barber played for Harrisburg during the 2001-02 MISL season.
COACHES MATCHUP - TATU vs. ERICH GEYER: This series is as even from every angle. Tatu and Geyer have met eight times in the regular season, winning four games each. They have also split two overtime games. Tatu is 3-1 at Reunion Arena against Geyer. They have also split their two postseason meetings with the Sidekicks winning the 1999 WISL semifinal 4-3 (so) in Dallas against Monterrey and La Raza winning the 2000 WISL title game 6-5 in a shootout at Monterrey Tech Arena. The Sidekicks have outscored Geyer's team 55-52 in regular season meetings under Tatu.
NOT SO SPECIAL TEAMS: The Sidekicks are 1-4 on the power play and 2-5 on the penalty kill through the first two games. The Sidekicks were a 3-4 on power plays and a perfect 6-6 on penalty kills with a shorthanded goal in the 2001 playoffs.
THIS DATE IN SIDEKICKS HISTORY - OCTOBER 12: The Sidekicks are 1-0 on October 12. Dallas won 3-2 in overtime at the Utah Freezz during the 2001 season. David Doyle got the win, replacing an injured Sagu in the fourth quarter.
HEAD ABOVE WATER: The Sidekicks have been at or above .500 for 49 straight regular season games. That is tied for the fourth longest streak in club history. The last time the Sidekicks dropped below .500 was an 0-1 start to the 2000 season. The Sidekicks need to win against Harrisburg to extend the streak.
BLOCK THAT KICK: David Doyle and Nick Stavrou are moving up the Sidekicks all-time blocks list. Doyle needs three to move past Troy Snyder for fourth all-time. Stavrou is seven away from being the sixth Sidekick to record 300 blocks.
XAVIER THE SAVER: Sagu (real name Edilson Xavier) is 58 saves from becoming the third player in Sidekicks history to the 1000 mark.
700 CLUB: At 10:52 into the third quarter of Game 1 vs. Philadelphia (9/28/02), Tatu assisted Leo Pernia's goal, his 700th career assist.
SIX PACK: When Tatu entered game one against Philadelphia (9/28/02), it was his first in the new MISL. He is the only player to play in all six modern top-tier professional indoor soccer leagues: Continental indoor Soccer League (CISL), original MISL, new MISL, North American Soccer League (NASL), National Professional Soccer League (NPSL), and the World Indoor Soccer League (WISL).
GOALKEEPER OF THE YEARS: Sagu won the 2000 and 2001 WISL Goalkeeper of the Year awards. Those are the only two full seasons he has played since joining the Sidekicks in the middle of the 1999 campaign.
HONORS & AWARDS: 9-30-2002 Tatu MISL Offensive Player of the Week 3 goals, 1 assist, 7 points in 14-13 win over Philadelphia
JOSE ALVARADO: Had six blocks and one shot at San Diego (10/05).
DAVID DOYLE: Had one goal from nine shots for two points at San Diego (10/05).
FRANK FILO: Had one goal, one assist and two blocks in opener vs. Philadelphia (9/28).
BRAD FLANAGAN: Had one assist and took four shots at San Diego (10/05).
GIAMPAULO PEDROSO: Had one goal for two points and one block at San Diego (10/05).
LEO PERNIA: Had one goal and one assist for three points vs. Philadelphia (9/28).
SAGU: Faced 32 shots and had 17 saves against Philadelphia (9/28).
PATRICK SHAMU: Had two assists in the opener vs. Philadelphia (9/28).
ANTONIO SUTTON: Had one goal for two points and three shots vs. Philadelphia (9/28).
TATU: Had one assist and seven shots at San Diego (10/05)...Named MISL Player of the week (week 1 9/30) for three goals, including game-winner, and one assist against Philadelphia (9/28).
ARMANDO VALDIVIA: Had one goal for two points and two shots vs. Philadelphia (9/28).
TRANSACTIONS: September 9: Sidekicks trade rights of midfielder Marco Coria, goalkeeper Raul Salas, and defender Genoni Martinez to Harrisburg for the rights to forward Justin Labrum, midfielder Danny Barber, and financial considerations.
September 23: sign Patrick Shamu, Brad Flanagan, and Danny Barber to active roster.
September 27: Sidekicks acquire rights to Beau Brown from Cleveland in three-way trade with Harrisburg. Dallas gets rights to forward Beau Brown from Cleveland; Harrisburg gets rights to Marco "Chikis" Lopez from Dallas; Cleveland gets first round pick in 2002 MISL college draft from Dallas and rights to midfielder Steve Klein, defender Eric Kvello, and forward Bernie Lilavois from Harrisburg.
October 3: Sidekicks sign defender Michael Curtis, forward Juan Sastoque, and midfielder Ben Waldrum.
APPROACHING 2.5 MILLION: The Sidekicks have attracted 2,464,098 fans at home through 17 regular seasons.
MILLION FAN MARCH: The Sidekicks have drawn 937,614 home fans to regular season games since Jim Tolbert took over the sales department prior to the 1993 season.
Major Indoor Soccer League 2 Stories from October 8, 2002
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