Soccer Spotlight: KiXX Edged by St. Louis, 8-6 Club Heads West to Battle California Saturday, February 18, 2006 By David Deal Philadelphia KiXX Director of Communications Philadelphia - The Philadelphia KiXX (4-13) fell to the St. Louis Steamers (15-4) 8-6 in front of 8,154 fans at the Wachovia Spectrum. The loss extends the club’s franchise worst mark of consecutive losses to eight. Veteran defender Genoni Martinez recorded the game winner on his fourth tally of the evening at 12:34 of the fourth quarter. Stuart Dobson (0-2) suffered the loss for Philadelphia with 12 saves on 18 chances, while Brett Phillips (13-3) earned the victory with the Steamers, turning away eight of the 14 shots he faced. Philadelphia opened the scoring, 1-0, as local standout Pat Morris found the back of the net off a rebound from teammate Kevin Sloan at 6:52 of the first quarter of play; the assist marked the 200^th of his 15-year career. Martinez closed out the period, evening the score, 1-1, with a restart tally from Carlos Farias at 12:51. Less than a minute into the second stanza (:49), Sloan slid the ball past Phillips to regain the club’s advantage, 2-1. Player/Coach Don D’Ambra recorded the assist on the play. Shaun David responded for St. Louis, 2-2, connecting on a pass from midfielder Sterling Wescott at 4:50. The Steamers took their first lead of the evening, 3-2, courtesy of a Farias score from Martinez at 6:14 of the quarter. D.J. Newsom increased the St. Louis advantage, 4-2, with an unassisted score at 10:51. At 13:39 of the frame, Morris found D’Ambra in front of the net, who deposited a header into the left corner of the net to cut the team’s deficit to one, 4-3. A mere 16 seconds into the third period, rookie defender Josh Rife netted his third goal of the year to again knot the score, 4-4. After Dobson was called for a two-minute tripping infraction inside the box, Martinez drilled home a penalty-kick score to regain the St. Louis one-goal advantage, 5-4, at 4:23 of the frame. D’Ambra pulled the club back even, 5-5, on a feed from KiXX newcomer Dino Delevski at 12:56; the contest marked the season and Philadelphia debut for Delevski. Martinez snuck a left-footer into the corner of the net to again give St. Louis a one-goal advantage, 6-5, at 1:14 of the final quarter of play. Delevski made the most of his debut, notching an unassisted restart goal to tie the game, 6-6, at 9:01. Martinez followed his fourth notch of the contest, an unassisted power-play goal at 12:34; the Steamers received the one-man advantage courtesy of two-minute tripping penalty called on rookie midfielder David Schofield. With Delevski serving as sixth attacker, St. Louis sealed the victory, 8-6, as David connected on a feed from Mali Walton at 13:20. Notes: Two-time League MVP Dino Delevski made his KiXX and season-debut tonight; the club acquired the rights to the all-star forward in the 2005 MISL Dispersal Draft and then agreed to terms for the remainder of the 2005-06 season on February 16. Delevski recorded a pair of points on one goal and one assist in the contest. KiXX assistant coach/player Kevin Sloan registered the 200^th assist of his illustrious career and now sits one point shy of 1,100. Attendance: 8,154 Philadelphia: 1-2-2-1=6 Shots: 21 Goalkeepers: Dobson (L, 12 saves). Scorers: D’Ambra (two goals, assist), Delevski (goal, assist), Morris (goal, assist), Sloan (goal, assist), Rife (goal). St. Louis: 1-3-1-3=8 Shots: 39 Goalkeepers: Phillips (W, eight saves). Scorers: Martinez (four goals, assist), David (two goals), Farias (goal, assist), DiMaria (assist), Newsom (goal), Walton (assist), Wescott (assist).