Vasic, Boney Lead to 15-10 Win KiXX over Baltimore Blast

Sunday, December 8, 2002

By David W. Unkle
SJSports Staff Writer
dunkle@sjsports.com

History does repeat itself; it two earlier season contests, the Philadelphia KiXX spotted the Blast and early lead only to come roaring back to walk away with the win. Last night, after being down 2-0 before the fans were settled in their seats, the KiXX allowed the visitors to gain a 10-6 advantage early in the third quarter. However, Goran Vasic (3G, 7P) and Shawn Boney (1G, 2A, 7P) led the Kixx to a 15-10 victory over the Blast in front of a season-high 4,852 fans at the First Union Spectrum.

With the victory, the Kixx remain undefeated at home (9-0) and move to 11-3 on the season while Baltimore drops to 4-9 on the year. The KiXX improved their record to 4-1 when allowing the first goal.

The Kixx lead the Eastern Conference by three games.

Denison Cabral (3G,6P) put the Blast on top early on a shot that caught KiXX goalie Peter Pappas out of position 1:19 into the game. The turf at Philadelphia’s end of the field saw the most action in the opening minutes of the game as the KiXX could not effectively push the ball up field.

After Vasic’s first of three goals knotted the score at 2-2, the Blast came right back on a nice steal by rookie P.J. Wakefield. Philadelphia’s Pat Morris was pushing the ball out of the KiXX defensive zone and Wakefield gained control of the ball and threaded a perfect pass to an unmarked Danny Santoro for the 4-2 lead.

Another pickoff by Wakefield almost led to a third Baltimore goal but his breakaway shot on Pappas went wide right.

The KiXX seemed to gain focus after Boney left-footed one past Blast goalie Brett Phillips with defenseman Sean Bowers draped all over him at the end of the first period.

Four minutes later, Joel Shanker outran a pair of Baltimore defenders on his flanks to give Philadelphia the two-point lead but the lead would not last.

Six unanswered points in a six-minute span put the Blast up 10-6 early in the third period.

Vasic’s three-point, re-start goal rejuvenated the KiXX for a second time on a shot from the far side point that froze Phillips. Baltimore didn’t set the wall said Vasic. I had an open corner and I hit it as hard as I could and I was lucky to score.

Pat Morris’ game-winner at 8:34 of the third put the KiXX up 11-10. Vasic and Gary DePalma finished the scoring for Philadelphia.

Guys were a little down because we had a bad game last week against San Diego said Kixx Head Coach and Forward Don D’Ambra. We were mostly frustrated that we gave them six points tonight…the three goals was [Baltimore] capitalizing on our turnovers…There are always peaks and valleys in games; you just have to battle through it and not make defensive mistakes.

After road games against Harrisburg and Kansas City, the Kixx return home on Saturday, December 21 to face the first place (Western Conference) Milwaukee Wave. The KiXX will be looking to avenge an early season 19-5 loss (and their lowest offensive output of the year) at the hands of the Wave. Kick-off is set for 7:05 pm. For ticket information, visit the Kixx website at: www.kixxonline.com or call at the KiXX office at 1-888-888-KiXX. Family Packs (4 seats, 4 hot dogs, 4 sodas) are available for just $59.00.

Be sure to tune in to Inside the KiXX on The Topcat Sports Show Sundays 4:30-5:30 PM and Tuesdays 4:30-6:00 PM on Philadelphia's Renaissance Radio Station, WNJC1360-AM for your chance to win tickets to an upcoming Philadelphia KiXX game. The studio phone lines are 856.227.1360 and 856.232.7077.