Wakefield's trick downs KiXX

by David W. Unkle
February 26, 2003 - Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2)

(PHILADELPHIA)— A severely depleted Philadelphia KiXX roster could not overcome P.J. Wakefield's hat trick as the Baltimore Blast took advantage of every Philadelphia miscue en route to a 12-7 Major Indoor Soccer League victory Wednesday afternoon.

Philadelphia lost its first game of the season at home while ending its 24-game winning streak at the First Union Spectrum dating back to January 26, 2002.

The MISL announced last night the suspensions of four KiXX players, Glenn Carbonara and Sean Boney (two games) and Drew Kopp and Edgar Bartolomeu (one game), for their involvement in an altercation immediately following the conclusion of the KiXX-Heat game. Harrisburg's Genoni Martinez received a one-game suspension and was fined an undisclosed amount for his involvement.

In addition to the four suspended players, Philadelphia was without leading scorer Joel Shanker who missed the game following an ankle injury in Sunday's game.

His status is undetermined at this time.

"We lacked composure and (Baltimore) capitalized on our breakdowns," said KiXX Head Coach Don D'Ambra. "Offensively, we had a lot of good chances. We had three power plays and only scored on one. We missed a penalty kick and missed a lot of point blank shots on the goalie. We just weren't mentally prepared."

Baltimore took the early lead with precision passing around a makeshift Philadelphia defense crippled from the loss of players.

Tarik Walker started the play to the right of KiXX goalkeeper Peter Pappas (16-6) as the quarter was coming to a close. Walker found teammate Danny Kelly in the box who threaded the ball to Kyle Swords beating Pappas with the one-timer.

Philadelphia had a golden opportunity to knot the score at two apiece when Kevin Sloan had a shootout opportunity following a tripping penalty on Baltimore's Wendell Regis.

Blast goalkeeper Brett Phillips (5-6) stopped Sloan and the score remained 2-0.

Baltimore tallied its second goal as Regis came out of the box and got behind the play. Pappas turned away Regis' initial shot, but the rebound came out to Wakefield who beat Pappas to the far side.

It was Wakefield's 17th 2PG of the season and his 19th goal overall.

Philadelphia was given a penalty shot when Swords was called for a handball. Goran Vasic was unsuccessful on the free kick, but the KiXX got things going while playing with the man advantage.

Philadelphia's Chris Handsor took a feed from Vasic and his turnaround shot beat a surprised Phillips.

Don D'Ambra, fresh off his heroics in Sunday's win by the KiXX, came up with another big score as the teams re-grouped after halftime.

With play moving downfield, D'Ambra took control of the ball on a weird bounce off the boards and put it swiftly over the head of Phillips for the three-point goal.

Philadelphia's lead was short-lived.

The Blast came back with two goals seventy seconds apart late in the third quarter to go back on top 8-5.

Denison Cabral's unassisted score gave Baltimore the lead back at 6-5 and Wakefield's second goal at 14:33 of the third quarter proved to be the game winner.

Baltimore added to its lead midway through the fourth quarter with goals by Eller and Wakefield before Kevin Sloan provided the final tally of the afternoon for the KiXX.

Fans can visit the Philadelphia KiXX and Baltimore Blast websites for schedule and ticket information at: www.kixxonline.com and www.baltimoreblast.com.

SCORING
First Quarter: BAL Swords (Kelly) 14:57.
Second Quarter: BAL Wakefield (unassisted) 7:06; PHL Handsor (Vasic) 9:07 (pp).
Third Quarter: PHL D'Ambra (unassisted) 00:40; BAL Cabral (unassisted) 13:23; BAL Wakefield (Walker) 14:33.
Fourth Quarter: BAL Eller (Bowers) 9:21; BAL Wakefield (Walker) 10:59; PHL Sloan (unassisted) 12:49.

SCORE BY QUARTER:

Baltimore:      2-2-4-4
Philadelphia:   0-2-3-2

SHOTS ON GOAL:

Baltimore:      3-8-8-4
Philadelphia:   3-6-4-8

FOULS:

Baltimore:      1-5-0-2
Philadelphia:   2-2-3-6

PENALTIES:
1st Quarter: none.
2nd Quarter: BAL Regis (tripping) 4:56; BAL Swords (handball) 8:37.
3rd Quarter: none.
4th Quarter: BAL Cabral (tripping) 4:52.

GOALKEEPER DISTRIBUTION:

Baltimore:      0-0-1-1
Philadelphia:   1-3-1-1

KICK-INS:

Baltimore:      0-0-1-2	
Philadelphia:   2-3-1-3

OFFICIALS:
Senior Referee: Joe Manfre
Referee: Joseph J. Della Penna
Assistant Referee: Edward C. Marco
Fourth Official: Matthew S. Hamilton

ATTENDANCE: 8,327

NOTES:

1. The Philadelphia KiXX leads the all-time series 28-20. In the last outing between these two teams, the Baltimore Blast defeated the 2002 Defending Champions, 7-2 in Baltimore.
2. Scott Hileman stopped 22 of 23 shots on the night.
3. Baltimore dropped their last two games on the road; a hard-fought battle with the Milwaukee Wave ended in a 13-8 loss and a 17-6 loss in Kansas City ended a two game winning streak for the Blast.
4. Baltimore's Denison Cabral and Sean Bowers will represent the blast at the MISL All-Star game in Milwaukee. Peter Pappas, Joel Shanker, Don D'Ambra, Glenn Carbonara, Pat Morris, and Kevin Sloan will represent the KiXX.
5. Today's attendance marks the season high for the Philadelphia KiXX. The previous high of 6,231 fans came on January 25, 2003 against the Kansas City Comets.
6. P.J. Wakefield's hat trick was the fourth for the Blast this season; Denison Cabral, Giuliano Celenza, and Paul Wright had the others.

Photos courtesy Pedro Cancel, Jr.

Major Indoor Soccer League 2 Stories from February 26, 2003

• Wakefield's trick downs KiXX - OSC Original by David W. Unkle
• Broadcast Team Announced - MISL 2
• Sockers Offer Exciting Giveaways, Entertainment In Back-to-Back Home Stint - San Diego Sockers

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