Game Previews: Dallas Faces Florida, Baltimore On Weekend Road Trip

by Bob Heckel

Allen, TX (Jan. 4, 2017) – The Dallas Sidekicks kick off the new year by paying a visit to the east coast with stops in Lakeland, Florida and Baltimore, MD.  The Dallas Sidekicks visit the Florida for the only time during the 2016-17 season when they challenge the Florida Tropics (3-7) on January 6th at 7:35 est. The Sidekicks enter Friday’s match with a record of 4-6.

The Sidekicks offense is averaging 7.3 goals per game and scoring 42% of their power play goals.  The team is also killing 73% of their penalties. Forward Cameron Brown leads the team in goals with 18. Brown also leads the team in points with 26.

Florida Tropics is averaging 3.9 goals per game and scoring 15% of their power play goal. Ricardo De Queiroz Diegues leads the tropics with a 10 goals. Piotr Sliwa will be in net for the tropics, Sliwa has a 7.24 GAA and a save percentage of .632.

While more than half of Florida’s roster had no prior professional MASL indoor experience, Freddy Moojen is a star veteran who scored 39 goals for Dallas two years ago before signing with St. Louis and then moving on to Florida.

On Saturday, the Sidekicks will be traveling from Lakeland to face the Baltimore Blast. Baltimore is coming off a 6-3 this past weekend.  Saturday's game is last meeting between the Dallas and Baltimore this season. The Blast prevailed in convincing fashion in the first meeting, stinging the Sidekicks 8-4 on December 17 in Dallas.

Pat Healey has returned to the Blast this season. Healey ranks 6th all-time in blocks, 9th all-time in assists, 20th all-time in games played, and 26th all-time in goals. He is also 2nd in postseason assists, 3rd in postseason blocks, and 23rd in postseason games played. He was named to all-league teams in 4 seasons and was named Defender of the Year the last two seasons.

Live stats for both matches can be found at www.maslsoccer.com, while live online streams will be available through MASLtv.