October 24, 2009 - Downingtown, PA

The Kixx headed to the always-muddy USTC field for their third home game of the season on Saturday. As usual, it had been raining and was threatening to do so again. But, for the most part, the weather was held to a fine mist as the Kixx squared off with the Tredyffrin-Easttown Ginga. The Kixx were short several players, as the flu continued to make its rounds.

The Ginga certainly weren't the same team as the one the Kixx thumped 14-1 at the United Sports tournament. Backed by some solid midfield play and a keeper who consistently punted the ball to midfield, the Ginga pressured a sluggish Kixx team throughout the first half. With the field slick, and several puddles, play was choppy at best. Often a ball would skip ahead only to stop with a splash in a puddle. The Ginga scored first, pushing home a low shot against an unprepared Kixx defense.

That served as something of a wakeup call, however, and the Kixx began to step up their pace again. It wasn't one of our sharpest displays, but the Kixx kept buzzing around the net, until finally Dalton Musselman broke through with a goal to even the score, shooting from the right side of the net down low on the left. The teams went into halftime tied 1-1.

The second half was much better, as the team as a whole picked up their intensity. Max Gress in particular was a stalwart on defense, stopping numerous rushes. Dalton tallied again to give the Kixx the lead, and Michael Bolger's late arrival from an early hockey game gave the team a boost in the midfield. Tristan Hummel and Joey D'Angelo had numerous chances to score, but couldn't quite drive it home.

The Ginga wouldn't go away, though, and the Kixx would be tested late in the second half -- and rescued single-handedly by one player. One of the stronger Ginga forwards burst through the line and leveled a point blank shot at keeper Daniel Good. He blasted it straight ahead, hitting the Kixx keeper full in the face. Dan went down like a ton of bricks, and the Kixx hurriedly cleared the ball away from the goal. Daniel recovered bravely, having kept his team in the lead. A few minutes later, the Kixx were called for a trip in the penalty area, and the Ginga lined up for a penalty shot. It was a good one, towards the left side of the goal, but Daniel leapt to his right and knocked the ball down. Then, since the ball was still live, he had the presence to scramble and fall on it!

The Kixx still led by just 1 goal at this point, and things were pretty tense, but they finally got the breathing room they needed when Charlie Beale broke through a crowd of defenders down the left wing and knocked a shot home. Final score: Kixx 3, Ginga 1. The Kixx run their record to 5-0-1, with a game tomorrow against Springfield.