Dallas Slides Past KiXX 6-5 in Double OT

Sunday, March 28, 2004

By David Deal
Philadelphia KiXX Director of Communitions

The Philadelphia KiXX (19-15) dropped a 4-3 decision to the Dallas Sidekicks (20-14) today in front of 3,989 fans at the Wachovia Spectrum. The loss today marks the first time in five meetings the Sidekicks defeated Philadelphia in the City of Brotherly Love. Beau Brown recorded the game winner at 3:20 of the second overtime. Peter Pappas (23-10) took the loss between the posts for Philadelphia, stopping 14 of the 19 shots he faced, while D.J. Horvath improved to 12-13 with 11 saves on 16 chances for the Sidekicks.

Dallas jumped to a quick 1-0 lead when forward David Doyle knocked home a pass from teammate Ricardinho at 2:37 of the opening period, but KiXX forward Goran Vasic answered right back with a notch from Drew Kopp to knot the game at 1-1 at the three-minute mark. Vasic then blasted a shot from beyond the yellow line that found the top corner of the net for his second tally of the contest and gave Philadelphia a 2-1 advantage. Player/Coach Don D’Ambra recorded the assist on the play at 7:49 of the quarter. A mere 20 seconds later (8:09), Sidekicks forward Patrick Shamu connected with teammate Michael Curtis to conclude the first quarter tied at 2-2.

St. Louis native Joel Shanker gave the KiXX their second lead of the day with a power-play goal from Vasic at 3:56 of the second stanza, courtesy of a two-minute dangerous-play infraction called on Dallas’ Eric Dade. Philadelphia held the 3-2 advantage entering the half.

KiXX defender Drew Kopp extended the club’s lead to two, 4-2, on a breakaway goal from Pappas at 8:25 of the third quarter. After Pappas was sent to the penalty box for a handball violation, Doyle registered an unassisted shoot-out goal to cut the KiXX lead to one, 4-3, at 13:17. The 4-3 KiXX lead held entering the final period of action.

Ricardinho received a five-misconduct at 3:06 of the fourth, the third of the game for the Sidekicks, providing the KiXX a two-minute power play; Head Coach Tatu received a pair of misconducts for dissent at 8:25 of the second quarter. D’Ambra took advantage, nailing a shot over Horvath and into the top shelf to extend the Philadelphia’s advantage to 5-3 on an assist from Shanker at 3:43 of the fourth. Sidekicks’ defender Kiley Couch cut the Dallas deficit to one, 5-4, with a score from Ricardinho at 10:31 of the period. With just 10 seconds remaining Dallas midfielder Nick Stavrou knocked a rebound from Leo Pernia past Pappas to tie the game at 5-5. The late goal marked the first time the KiXX allowed a tying goal in the last minute of play since Doug Miller of the Buffalo Blizzard recorded the game-tying score on March 25, 2000.

Defense dictated the first overtime, as neither time could muster a legitimate scoring opportunity. Beau Brown finally ended the scoring drought with a strike from Kenny Bundy at 3:20 of the second overtime, giving Dallas a 6-5 victory. Official time of today’s game was 2:58, which stands as the longest home game and the second longest overall contest in KiXX franchise history.

Notes: KiXX midfielder Bryon Carmichael left the game after colliding head-first into the sideboards midway through the second quarter. The native of Lumberton, NJ was sent to the Pennsylvania Hospital as a precautionary measure. Yugoslavia native Goran Vasic tallied his 100th goal with the KiXX franchise on his first goal of the game. Defender Pat Morris did not dress for today’s game, marking just the second occasion in his four-year career the Philadelphia native missed consecutive contests; the three-time all-star missed a two straight outings in his rookie season, January 2 at Harrisburg and January 7 at Detroit. Joel Shanker connected with player/coach Don D’Ambra at 3:43 of the fourth quarter to record the 100th assist of his eight-year career. In both meetings at the Wachovia Spectrum between Dallas and Philadelphia this season, the game has gone into overtime; each club claimed a victory.

Boxscore:
Attendance: 3,989

Philadelphia: 2-1-1-1-0=5 Shots: 23
Goalkeepers: Pappas (L, 14 saves).
Scorers: Vasic (two goals, assist), D’Ambra (goal, assist), Kopp (goal, assist), Shanker (goal, assist), Pappas (assist).

Dallas: 2-0-1-2-1=6 Shots: 43
Goalkeepers: Horvath (W, 11 saves)
Scorers: Doyle (two goals), Ricardinho (two assists), Couch (goal), Curtis (assist), Shamu (goal), Stavrou (goal), Pernia (assist).

Following today’s contest, Philadelphia prepares for their final two games of the regular season, a back-to-back set that kicks-off versus the Wave in Milwaukee on April 2 and then concludes with a visit to the Wachovia Spectrum from former player/coach Omid Namazi and the Cleveland Force on April 3. Game-time in Milwaukee is scheduled for 8:05 pm ET, while the KiXX-Force matchup is slated for a 7:05 pm ET kick-off. For more information or to purchase tickets, contact the club’s Executive Office at 1-888-888-KiXX (5499) or log onto the team’s official website, www.kixxonline.com.