Philadelphia Kixx

Todd Dusosky scored a two-point goal in overtime to lead the Milwaukee Wave to a 10-8 win over the Philadelphia Kixx at the CoreStates Spectrum Saturday. It was the National Professional Soccer League opener for both teams. The Kixx, playing in front of a home crowd of 10,062, led 8-3 before the Wave rallied and scored the last seven points on three consecutive goals. Dusosky's goal came 1 minute, 53 seconds into overtime. "It's disappointing to play as well as we did for most of the game and come out on the short end," said Kixx coach Dave MacWilliams.

Kixx coach Omid Namazi was suspended for four games and fined an undisclosed amount for his conduct during and after a 14-12 victory over the Cleveland Crunch on Saturday, the National Professional Soccer League announced yesterday. Namazi received a misconduct penalty in the fourth quarter of the game at the First Union Spectrum and continued to verbally abuse the officials afterward, NPSL director of operations Paul Luchowski said. After the game, Namazi went to the officials' locker room and continued his protest.

Things were going pretty well for the Philadelphia Kixx last night when Joe Scigliano climbed the boards at the First Union Center and slung one leg all the way over the glass. With just over three minutes left, the Kixx midfielder was celebrating a goal that put away Game 2 in the Major Indoor Soccer League title series. The Kixx dominated the fourth quarter to beat the Milwaukee Wave, 11-4, tying the teams' best-of-three title series at one game apiece. A winner-take-all showdown awaits Friday in Milwaukee.

The Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office will determine what charges will be filed against a Philadelphia Kixx soccer player who was involved in an alcohol-related highway fatality, the New Jersey State Police said last night. Matthew J. Maher, 24, of Cape May Court House, N.J., was released from police custody Saturday, hours after a vehicle he was driving east on the Atlantic City Expressway in Hamilton Township rear-ended another vehicle about 2:50 a.m., police said. A police official said that Maher had been drinking and that "alcohol was a factor in the accident.

Peter Vermes, easily the most successful professional soccer player from this area in the last decade, yesterday agreed to a contract with the Philadelphia Kixx indoor soccer team. A veteran of professional leagues in Spain, Holland and Hungary, a former captain of the U.S. national team, and a starter on the 1990 U.S. World Cup team, Vermes, 30, has never played professional soccer in this area, except for a couple of drop-in visits with the U.S. national team. Vermes won't have much of a break.

Dave MacWilliams, the popular, home-grown coach of the Philadelphia Kixx, was replaced yesterday by current player Omid Namazi. The Kixx are 15-14 and in first place in the East Division of the National Professional Soccer League's American Conference. However, Kixx chairman Ed Tepper said he has not been happy with the team's performance and has been particularly unsettled with its 2-12 road record. "We are not playing up to our potential and we need a spark," Tepper said last night.

SURE, PHILADELPHIA MAY have a world champion, but Pittsburgh has two. That appears to be the mentality of a computer program at the Sporting News that ranked Philly second in the publication's annual Best Sports Cities List. The complete list will be in the magazine on newsstands this week. Take solace in the fact that Philly was a "close second" based on a system that assigns points to a variety of categories, like the city's number of teams, its regular-season won-lost records, playoff berths, championships and more.

From the get-go, yesterday's 19-12 win over the California Cougars wasn't your average Philadelphia Kixx game. For one thing, the game time was 10:35 on a gray, frigid morning. For another thing, the seats at the Wachovia Spectrum were full of kids, kids and more kids, screaming their heads off during one of the indoor soccer team's favorite traditions, the 12th Annual School Day Game. In most years, with tickets slashed to $8 from the usual $25 for adults and $15 for youngsters, the Major Indoor Soccer League game draws more than 8,000 fans.

When the Kixx open the home portion of their 2006 Major League Indoor Soccer season tonight against the expansion Detroit Ignition, both teams will do so with a familiar feel. The Kixx will take the field at the Wachovia Spectrum at 7:05 p.m. under the leadership of Don D'Ambra, the player/coach and the Kixx's most storied player. The Philadelphia native's presence was made possible when the Kixx reacquired the veteran of a dozen MISL seasons from the Ignition. Detroit had selected D'Ambra 10th overall in the league's expansion draft in June.

On the one hand, Omid Namazi can't wait for the National Professional Soccer League season to start. On the other, he wouldn't mind another month of practice. Namazi, who drops the interim tag in favor of just head coach for the Philadelphia Kixx this season, is ready to play some games that count, but with 10 new faces on a roster of 20, some extra time wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing. Too bad. The Kixx open the season at 7:35 tonight against the host Baltimore Blast and turn around tomorrow to host the same team at the same time at the First Union Spectrum.

SURE, PHILADELPHIA MAY have a world champion, but Pittsburgh has two. That appears to be the mentality of a computer program at the Sporting News that ranked Philly second in the publication's annual Best Sports Cities List. The complete list will be in the magazine on newsstands this week. Take solace in the fact that Philly was a "close second" based on a system that assigns points to a variety of categories, like the city's number of teams, its regular-season won-lost records, playoff berths, championships and more.

The Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office will determine what charges will be filed against a Philadelphia Kixx soccer player who was involved in an alcohol-related highway fatality, the New Jersey State Police said last night. Matthew J. Maher, 24, of Cape May Court House, N.J., was released from police custody Saturday, hours after a vehicle he was driving east on the Atlantic City Expressway in Hamilton Township rear-ended another vehicle about 2:50 a.m., police said. A police official said that Maher had been drinking and that "alcohol was a factor in the accident.

From the get-go, yesterday's 19-12 win over the California Cougars wasn't your average Philadelphia Kixx game. For one thing, the game time was 10:35 on a gray, frigid morning. For another thing, the seats at the Wachovia Spectrum were full of kids, kids and more kids, screaming their heads off during one of the indoor soccer team's favorite traditions, the 12th Annual School Day Game. In most years, with tickets slashed to $8 from the usual $25 for adults and $15 for youngsters, the Major Indoor Soccer League game draws more than 8,000 fans.

When the Kixx open the home portion of their 2006 Major League Indoor Soccer season tonight against the expansion Detroit Ignition, both teams will do so with a familiar feel. The Kixx will take the field at the Wachovia Spectrum at 7:05 p.m. under the leadership of Don D'Ambra, the player/coach and the Kixx's most storied player. The Philadelphia native's presence was made possible when the Kixx reacquired the veteran of a dozen MISL seasons from the Ignition. Detroit had selected D'Ambra 10th overall in the league's expansion draft in June.

The fireworks display after last night's WUSA game between the Charge and the San Diego Spirit brought quite a few oohs and ahs from spectators at Villanova Stadium. For most of the game, the last-place Charge had trouble eliciting a similar reaction from their fans. But, with defeat quickly closing in, the hosts scored during stoppage time and managed a 1-1 tie before a crowd of 8,602. Midfielder Stacey Tullock slipped a middle-of-the-field shot into the right corner with less than a minute to go. "It's not a win," Charge goalkeeper Melissa Moore said, "but it felt good to come from behind like that and get a tie. " After being a force in the WUSA's first two regular seasons, the Charge have been trying to make their way out of the basement of the eight-team league.

Things were going pretty well for the Philadelphia Kixx last night when Joe Scigliano climbed the boards at the First Union Center and slung one leg all the way over the glass. With just over three minutes left, the Kixx midfielder was celebrating a goal that put away Game 2 in the Major Indoor Soccer League title series. The Kixx dominated the fourth quarter to beat the Milwaukee Wave, 11-4, tying the teams' best-of-three title series at one game apiece. A winner-take-all showdown awaits Friday in Milwaukee.

You want to know why the Philadelphia Kixx are the underdogs in the Major Indoor Soccer League finals? The standings don't tell the story. In a 44-game regular season, the Kixx finished just four games behind the first-place Milwaukee Wave. But the Wave played 22 regular-season home games and won them all. Their two-of-three series begins tonight in Milwaukee, then moves to Philadelphia for Game 2 at the First Union Center tomorrow night. If a third game is necessary, it will be in Milwaukee next Friday night.

Pat Morris is living a dream. The local kid who played soccer at North Catholic and Philadelphia University is still playing soccer in the city, but at a higher level. Morris is in his third year with the indoor Philadelphia Kixx. Just as he did in high school, when he led the Falcons to the Catholic League title game his senior year, and in college when he was a four-time all-Soccer Seven selection, Morris is excelling in the sport. The main difference is that he now plays indoors, something that admittedly took some adjustment for the 24-year-old, third-year defender.

On high school soccer fields, Les Lunsford used to rely on his fleet feet, not physical presence, to maneuver past defenders. During his playing career at Overbrook High, he stood 5-foot-8 and weighed 150 pounds at the most. Lunsford did not run over defenders, but he did dribble by them. What he lacked in size, he made up for in ball control. At times, he may have held the ball too long, but Lunsford's skill often enabled him to get away with it. These days, holding the ball a split-second too long can result in a painful collision - not to mention loss of possession - for Lunsford, who plays professionally for the Philadelphia Kixx indoor soccer team.

It all began, as many coaching situations do, as an effort to shake up a team that was not meeting expectations. Kixx defender Omid Namazi was out with a left knee injury, reduced to being a spectator. Then Philadelphia Kixx chairman and CEO Ed Tepper asked Namazi to take over as the head coach of the team with 11 games remaining in the 1998-99 season. After the season, the Kixx would regroup and find a full-time coach and Namazi would return to playing. Namazi foiled the franchise's plan by injecting life into the team from behind the bench.