Sidekicks host San Diego Sat. Feb 1 @ 7pm - Reunion Arena

January 29, 2003 - Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2)
Dallas Sidekicks News Release


The Dallas Sidekicks (6-18) take on the San Diego Sockers (10-15) for the fifth time this season, the second at Reunion. The Sockers have taken every meeting thus far winning 7-4 in San Diego on October 5, 15-10 in Dallas on November 9, 8-4 in San Diego on November 10, and 12-15 in San Diego on January 12. The Sidekicks are 2-8 against the current San Diego Sockers. The Sidekicks are on a seven-game losing skid for the second time this season and are looking for their first home victory against the West. Dallas has not lost eight consecutive games since its inaugural 1984-85 season that included losing streaks of 10 and 11. Dallas is 1-11 against the West, and 0-6 at home against the West.

The Sidekicks are three and one-half games behind San Diego (10-15) for the final playoff spot in the western conference. San Diego plays at Cleveland (11-11) Friday before traveling to Dallas. The Sockers and Kansas City (11-12) each have a magic number of eight (combination of KC or SD wins + Dallas losses) to clinch a playoff spot over the Sidekicks.

Tatu is one point behind Zoran Karic for second all-time. Tatu has 1572 points on 851 goals and 721 assists. Karic finished with 1573 points on 752 goals and 821 assists. February 1 is Tatu's 41st birthday (2/1/1962). Doyle has 83 power play goals and is one behind Kia for third all-time at 84 power play goals. Doyle is also tied with Kevin Smith for 17th all-time at 384 assists. Doyle's next game will be his 279th as a Sidekick, that will tie him with Doc Lawson for fifth in team history.

NEXT GAMES: The Sidekicks travel next weekend for back-to-back road games. They take on Kansas City at Kemper Arena next Friday, February 7 at 8:05 pm and the Philadelphia Kixx at the First Union Spectrum on Saturday, February 8 at 6:05 pm. RADIO: All Sidekicks games are on Fox Sports 1190 AM. They are also available on the internet at www.dallassidekicks.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.

PLAYER/HEAD COACH TATU: Tatu is in his 18th season as a player for the Dallas Sidekicks, his fifth as head coach. Tatu led the Sidekicks to the World Indoor Soccer League finals all 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 60-44 (.577) regular season record, and 7-3 (.700) postseason record. 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 second with 21 seasons played (Victor Nogueira of Milwaukee - 23), seventh with 623 games played (Michael King of Milwaukee - 637), second for goals with 851 (Hector Marinaro - 1201), second in assists with 721 (Zoran Karic - 821), third in points with 1572 (Marinaro - 1886, Karic - 1573), tied for second in game-winning goals with 77 (Marinaro - 99, Steve Zungul - 77), and first with 111 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 - 547, goals - 730, assists - 665, points - 1395, shots - 4146, power play goals - 96, game-winning goals - 68, and overtime goals - 7.

SERIES HISTORY vs. SAN DIEGO: The Sidekicks are 2-8 against the current San Diego Sockers, including 0-4 this season. The Sidekicks went 18-37 against the original Sockers. The 2001 championship was the third time these teams met in the finals. San Diego defeated Dallas 4-2 in the best of seven 1992 MISL championship, Dallas won the best-of three CISL title series 2-1 in 1993, and Dallas won the 2001 WISL title two games to one. Game 23 - January 12 at San Diego: The Dallas Sidekicks surrendered a 10-5 lead and eventually fell 15-12 to the San Diego Sockers at the San Diego Sports Arena Sunday. The Sidekicks (6-17) led 10-5 when Giampaulo Pedroso scored his first of two goals at 8:03 of the third. San Diego then went on a 10-0 run from 12:57 of the third until 14:52 of the forth quarter. Mariano Bollella started the rally with a goal at 12:57 of the third period. Chris Fimbres followed with a three-point restart goal at 13:24 to tie the game at 10-10. Robbie Aristodemo finished the scoring for San Diego with a three-pointer at 2:30 of the fourth and an empty-net score at 14:22 of the final quarter. The Sidekicks jumped out to a 4-0 lead as Nick Stavrou scored twice in the first quarter. Stavrou tallied on a Larry Dube assist at 2:47 of the first and off a David Doyle assist at 9:14 of the opening period. The assist was number 384 of Doyle's career, that ties him with Preki for 17th all-time. He is four behind longtime Sidekick Kevin Smith for 16th all-time. Alejandro Cardenas pulled San Diego (9-12) within 4-3 when he scored from beyond the arc at 5:23 of the second. Dallas then extended the lead to 8-3 on goals by Brad Flanagan and Armando Valdivia. Flanagan scored shorthanded at 7:57 of the second quarter. That set the Sidekicks team record of five this season. The previous team record was four shorthanded goals during the 1985-86 season. Tatu assisted Valdivia and is now at 1571 points on 851 goals and 720 assists. He is two behind Zoran Karic (1573) for second all-time. Game 10 - November 10 at San Diego: The Dallas Sidekicks (2-8) accumulated 17 penalty minutes in an 8-4 loss to the San Diego Sockers (5-4) at the San Diego Sports Arena Sunday. It was the Sidekicks seventh consecutive loss, extending the longest streak since the 10 and 11 game skids of the 1984-85 season. The Sidekicks were in the game until Gaston Pernia scored against the Dallas sixth attacker with 56 seconds left in the game. The Sidekicks seemed to grab momentum in the third. Trailing 6-4 in the third, the Sidekicks killed a five-on-three penalty in the third quarter with Sagu in the penalty box and David Doyle playing in goal. Sagu was called for two consecutive five-minute misconduct penalties at 2:14. At the same time, Antonio Sutton was called for elbowing and Brad Flanagan was serving a five-minute penalty following a confrontation with the Sockers' Pernia earlier in the third. The Flanagan and two Sagu misconducts added a two-minute penalty for accumulation of three misconducts. Giampaulo Pedroso served the two minutes. The Sockers had several opportunities during the super power play, but Doyle recorded four saves in the last 40 seconds of the five-on-three to keep the margin at two. The Sidekicks pulled within two points on Antonio Sutton's ninth goal of the season at 3:13 of the third. Leo Pernia assisted the goal. It was the only goal of the second half until Gaston Pernia scored in the final minute. The Sockers added to their first half advantage when Gaston Pernia scored on a diving header. Carlos Farias fed the ball across the goal mouth on the restart. The Sockers led after one quarter on goals by Shawn Beyer and Shandley Phillips. Phillips started the scoring at 1:14. Then Tatu assisted Nick Stavrou as he tied the game for the Sidekicks with a two-point goal, his fifth of the season, at 2:51. Game 9 - November 9 vs. San Diego: The Dallas Sidekicks (2-7) lost 15-10 to the San Diego Sockers (4-4) Saturday night in front of 10,024 fans at Reunion Arena. The loss, the team's sixth in a row, is the longest losing streak since an 11 game skid during the inaugural 1984-85 season. David Doyle opened the 3rd quarter scoring with a long shot that deflected off a San Diego player and into the net, cutting the score to 9-4. Dallas took advantage of a holding penalty by the Sockers' Tony Valazquez, as Antonio Sutton rebounded a Nick Stavrou shot past DJ Horvath making the score 9-6 at 8:29. Horvath blocked a Shamu blast from just inside the three-point arc to end the period. San Diego's Carlos "Chilie" Farias recorded a hat trick. The second quarter was a very physical affair with almost as many fouls committed as shots taken. Both teams pressured the goals, but neither team could score until Shawn Beyer scored his second goal of the game on a Farias assist at 12:04 of the period. Shamu opened the scoring at 5:43 of the first quarter rebounding a David Doyle shot behind Sockers goalie DJ Horvath at 5:43 of the first quarter. Shawn Beyer answered for the Sockers with an unassisted power play goal at 11:56, the result of a tripping penalty to Nick Stavrou. Anthony Farace lofted a three-point "Hail Mary" shot into the Sidekicks net from beyond his yellow line as the horn sounded to end the first quarter. The Sockers increased their lead in the fourth quarter to 11-8, but Doyle answered for Dallas at 9:48 with a goal of his own. The Sockers put the game away with two goals, including an empty net goal by Farias at 14:19. Nick Stavrou completed the scoring with a power play goal at 14:47 of the fourth. Tatu assisted the Stavrou goal. Game 2 - October 5, 2002 at San Diego: The Dallas Sidekicks lost 7-4 to the San Diego Sockers at the San Diego Sports Arena. Anthony Farace of the Sockers (1-1) scored the game-winner 30-seconds into the second quarter. The three-point goal gave San Diego a 5-0 lead. The Sidekicks put David Doyle in as the sixth attacker with three minutes left in the fourth, but had to put Sagu back in net when Doyle received a two-minute penalty for catching the ball outside the penalty area. The Sidekicks killed the Sockers' power play and had a pair of three-point shots that didn't find the net as time ran out. The Sidekicks out shot San Diego 41 to 28. The two goals is the lowest for the Sidekicks since the season finale at San Diego last season, which was a 5-0 loss for Dallas. The Sidekicks trailed 5-2 at the half. Both Dallas points came on a goal by Giampaulo Pedroso at 6:41 of the second quarter. Pedroso's goal was an even strength goal, but came just two seconds after the power play expired. Tatu had the assist. The Sidekicks fall to 1-1 on the season, which is one game back of the Milwaukee Wave (2-0) and tied with San Diego for second in the Western Conference of the Major Indoor Soccer League.

Dallas was 2-4 against San Diego last season, but won the best of three championship series two games to one as Armando Valdivia scored the game-winner shorthanded 2:11 into overtime of game three. These teams renewed the rivalry in the first game of the 2001 WISL season as they met for the inaugural sporting event at the American Airlines Center in Dallas August 19. The Sidekicks came back from a 5-3 deficit with less than a minute to play, and won on a Marco Coria goal in overtime. The game set a new Dallas attendance record with 17,710 fans.

THIS DATE IN SIDEKICKS HISTORY - FEBRUARY 1: The Sidekicks only game on February 1 was a 5-4 overtime victory against the Cleveland Crunch at Reunion Arena. Tatu assisted Richard Chinapoo on the game-winner.



Major Indoor Soccer League 2 Stories from January 29, 2003


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