Photo courtesy Dallas Sidekicks

Sidekicks 6, Heat 2

In an opening night battle of two expansion clubs, the Dallas Sidekicks used opportunistic offense and a stellar game in goal by indoor veteran Sagu to turn back the Harrisburg Heat 6-2.

Both squads struggled to score in the early going as they played through a scoreless first period despite the Heat outshooting the Sidekicks 12-4. Dallas got on the scoreboard first as they netted three goals in the second period to take a commanding 3-0 lead into halftime.

After the break, the Sidekicks struck quickly to push the advantage to four goals. Finally, after nearly 45 minutes of play the Heat broke through for their first goal of the season. Tom Mellor, off an assist from Tyler Witmer, netted the historical goal of the Heat's latest incarnation when he found the back of the net at 14:40 of the third period. Mitchell Walters added a tally for the Heat late in the fourth period, but the outcome was all but decided by then.

Goalkeeper Dave Kern made 20 saves and kept the Heat in the game despite collaring the loss. Mellor earned three points as he added an assist and took a team-high 11 shots.

Outside the Arc
• This was the first meeting between the two squads in almost ten years when the Heat defeated the Sidekicks 10-8 on December 28th, 2002

• The Sidekicks drew 5,909 fans into the Allen Event Center which set a new PASL attendance record

• Harrisburg was 0-for-2 on the power play, while Dallas converted on one of their two chances

• The Heat wore their away jerseys which were white with orange and black striped sleeves

Next Up
7 PM Saturday, November 17th vs. Cincinnati Kings @ Equine Arena, Farm Show Complex