Milwaukee Wave

Ptah Meyers scored a hat trick but the Kixx fell to the Milwaukee Wave, 12-10, in a Major Indoor Soccer League game last night at the U.S. Cellular Arena. The Kixx (7-12) will finish the season against the Baltimore Blast this afternoon at 4:05 at the Liacouras Center, where they will retire the jersey of goalie Peter Pappas. Kevin Coleman and Semir Mesanovic also scored goals last night against the Wave (14-12). The Kixx narrowed an 8-2 deficit to 8-6 in the third period before the Wave answered both scores to gain control the rest of the way.

Glenn Carbonara is playing for yet another indoor soccer title, and this one is special. A member of the Milwaukee Wave of the National Professional Soccer League, Carbonara has won five indoor soccer championships, four in the NPSL and one in the old Major Indoor Soccer League. The 1984 graduate of Vineland says that this year's drive for a championship hits close to home. That's because tonight, when the Wave begin the best-of-five championship series at the Bradley Center, they will be facing the visiting Kixx, Carbonara's hometown team.

Despite an opening loss, the Kixx enter tonight's second game of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) championship series against the host Milwaukee Wave with optimism. "The guys are confident and we feel we can play with them," said Kixx assistant coach Bobby Joe Esposito in a phone interview from Milwaukee. "We made some mental lapses, especially in the box, and that hurt us. " On Wednesday, Milwaukee scored a 16-12 win in the opener of the best-of-five championship series.

The Kixx saw their three-game winning streak end in a 7-5 loss to the Milwaukee Wave (11-6) in the MISL last night. The Wave took a 5-0 lead early in the second period. Despite four straight goals by the Kixx (11-7), the Wave hung on.

The Kixx will open their 11th Major Indoor Soccer League season with a Nov. 5 road game against the California Cougars at the Stockton Arena. Coach Don D'Ambra's team will open its 15-game home schedule against the expansion Detroit Ignition on Nov. 11 at the Wachovia Spectrum. Five new Kixx. The Kixx selected five players in the MISL dispersal draft, which distributed players from the St. Louis Steamers. Philadelphia selected defender Genoni Martinez with the third overall pick.

John Barry Nusum scored his second hat trick in the last two games as the Kixx routed the Milwaukee Wave, 24-14, in the Major Indoor Soccer League last night. Nusum accounted for seven points and Edgar Bartolomeu and Pat Morris each scored twice as the Kixx (13-7) won their third straight, at the Wachovia Spectrum. The Wave ebbed to 11-11. Seven players scored for the Kixx, including two-time league MVP Dino Delevski, who scored the 300th goal of his illustrious career to put the Kixx ahead by 18-12.

The Kixx fell, 14-6, to the first-place Milwaukee Wave in an MISL game last night. Shayne Campbell and Drew Kopp each scored for the Kixx (14-9). Joe Reiniger, who extended his point-scoring streak to 97 games, had three goals and two assists for Milwaukee (19-5). Chris Handsor had two assists and Joel Shanker also scored for the Kixx, which have lost four of five and are now 4? games behind the Wave in the standings.

Don D'Ambra scored two goals last night to lift the Kixx to a 13-12 Major Indoor Soccer League win over the host Milwaukee Wave at the U.S. Cellular Arena. Shawn Boney scored a two-point goal late in the fourth quarter to provide the decisive points for the Kixx (7-3). Philadelphia has won four straight. The Kixx never led until the fourth quarter when Dino Delevski connected on a three-pointer to put them up, 11-10. D'Ambra, in his 13th indoor season and 11th with the Kixx, reached the 400-goal mark for his career.

The Kixx lost to the Milwaukee Wave, 15-11, in a Major Indoor Soccer League game last night at the Wachovia Spectrum in front of 6,332 fans. The Wave (5-6) withstood a furious comeback attempt by the Kixx (7-4), who found themselves down 8-0 in the second quarter. After two straight losses to the Kixx, the Wave came out gunning with the first eight goals of the game. The Kixx finally scored late in the first half on Andy Guastaferro's sixth goal of the season. Kixx player/coach Don D'Ambra picked up his team-leading eighth assist in the game to extend his point streak to nine games.

The Kixx did not score until late in the first half yesterday in an 11-7 Major Indoor Soccer League loss to the Milwaukee Wave at U.S. Cellular Arena. Former Kixx midfielder Goran Vasic gave the Wave (12-13) a three-point lead 42 seconds into the game. Anthony Maher, from Cape May, made it 5-0, and Marcelo Fontana added a pair of goals. Genoni Martinez put the Kixx (15-10) on the board 19 seconds before halftime. Steve Wacker and player-coach Don D'Ambra also scored for the Kixx, who are tied for first place with Detroit.

The Kixx retired goalkeeper Peter Pappas' No. 22 jersey last night in their home finale, then beat the Baltimore Blast, 19-12, at the Liacouras Center. The Kixx finished 8-12 and missed the Major Indoor Soccer League playoffs. Baltimore (12-8) will play a home-and-home series with La Raza de Monterrey this week, with the winner advancing to the championship game against the top-seeded Milwaukee Wave on April 4. An 8-0 run in the first half gave the Kixx a 10-2 lead, and they expanded it to 14-4 by halftime.

Ptah Meyers scored a hat trick but the Kixx fell to the Milwaukee Wave, 12-10, in a Major Indoor Soccer League game last night at the U.S. Cellular Arena. The Kixx (7-12) will finish the season against the Baltimore Blast this afternoon at 4:05 at the Liacouras Center, where they will retire the jersey of goalie Peter Pappas. Kevin Coleman and Semir Mesanovic also scored goals last night against the Wave (14-12). The Kixx narrowed an 8-2 deficit to 8-6 in the third period before the Wave answered both scores to gain control the rest of the way.

Pat Morris scored two goals, but it wasn't enough as the Rockford Rampage defeated the Kixx, 22-12, at the Liacouras Center in a Major Indoor Soccer League game Saturday night. The Kixx (3-6) have won their three straight games. Ryan Heins, Anthony Maher, Sandre Naumoski and Joe DiBuono also scored for the Kixx, who host the Milwaukee Wave on Saturday, Feb. 6 at 7:05 p.m. The Rampage (6-4) was led by Geison Moura's two goals.   Wings   Alex Gajic had three goals, including the game-winner in overtime, to lead the Colorado Mammoth (2-2)

The Kixx dropped a critical game Saturday at the Wachovia Spectrum, losing to the first-place Milwaukee Wave, 15-13, in overtime and hurting their playoff chances. The Wave's Sandre Naumoski scored with 26 seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime and Greg Howes, the MISL's leading scorer, put in the game-winner while recording a hat trick. With the loss, the Kixx fell 1 1/2 games behind the New Jersey Ironmen for the final playoff spot. To qualify for the playoffs, the Kixx need to win their last two games while having New Jersey lose to Baltimore on April 4. The Kixx own the season series with the Ironmen, 3-0, giving them an advantage should the teams end the regular season in a tie. The Kixx finish the season with two road games, April 3 at Monterrey and April 5 at California.

Greg Howes had a hat trick, including the game-winner in overtime, as the Milwaukee Wave defeated the Kixx, 15-13, in the MISL last night. The defending champion Kixx (12-16) fell 1 1/2 games behind the New Jersey Ironmen with two games to play in the chase for the league's final playoff spot. Milwaukee's Sandre Naumoski had sent the game into overtime with just 26 seconds remaining in regulation in front of 9,429 at the Wachovia Spectrum. Howes, the MISL's leading scorer with 37 goals, gave Milwaukee (20-7)

The Major Indoor Soccer League yesterday named Kixx midfielder Ptah Myers co-offensive player of the week for the seven days ending Sunday. The honor, the first of his four-year career, came after Myers scored two goals and had one assist in a 12-8 victory Saturday against the first-place Milwaukee Wave. Myers was credited with the winning goal after scoring both in the fourth quarter as the Kixx extended their win streak to three. He also was given an assist after he sent a cross-field pass to Aaron Susi for a goal that tied the game at 6. Myers was also credited with two blocks in the game.

Ptah Myers collected a pair of goals and player-coach Don D'Ambra scored for the fourth consecutive game as the Kixx defeated the first-place Milwaukee Wave, 12-8, last night in the MISL. But goalkeeper Peter Pappas, starting in his first game since injuring his neck on Jan. 18, was hurt again in the second quarter. The veteran had to leave the game after taking a shot to the face at close range. Rookie Nick Hovaker, who has won the last two games for the Kixx, entered the game and picked up his third win. The Kixx improved to 10-11 while the Wave fell to 14-7 in front of 6,386 fans at the Wachovia Spectrum.

Troy Dusosky scored twice as the Milwaukee Wave beat the Kixx, 12-10, in the Major Indoor Soccer League last night. The loss ended a three-game winning streak and left the Kixx with a 5-8 record. The Wave are 8-4. Pat Morris scored two goals for the Kixx, including the first penalty-kick goal of the season. Ptah Myers' team-leading ninth goal of the season tied the game, 2-2, with just 30 seconds remaining in the first quarter. After a Milwaukee penalty, Morris was elected to take the penalty shot, and he capitalized on the opportunity for his sixth goal of the season.

Veteran players helped the Kixx win their second Major Indoor Soccer League title last season. Those same players won't be around to help out this season. The Kixx have injected some young legs into their lineup after losing several key veterans in the off-season. Twelve of the team's 18 players are younger than 30. "We'll definitely be a little faster," Kixx player/coach Don D'Ambra said yesterday. "How successful we'll be will depend on the learning curve of the players we signed.