A Bermudian could once again get their hands on the Major Indoor Soccer League crown, when John Barry Nusum?s Philadelphia KiXX go into the play-offs this weekend.

David Bascome lifted the title with the Baltimore Blast last season and this year the mantle has been passed on to rookie forward Nusum, whose goalscoring abilities will play a vital role for the KiXX when they take on the Cleveland Force on Friday.

Nusum fired home 28 times in his first season with the club, including the game-winning strike in their final match of the season against Kansas.

And the young striker, who still sits high in the CONCACAF scoring charts following his efforts for the Island in the World Cup qualifying campaign, will be looking to play his part in the two-game series this weekend.

?Everyone around here is getting pretty excited about it,? said Nusum, whose side finished third in the regular season and will take on the second-placed Force at home at the Wachovia Spectrum on Friday before the return leg two days later in Ohio.

?It?s a big deal to get into the play-offs and you can see everyone is training that little bit harder and with a lot of energy ahead of these games.

?I have not been involved in this before, so I don?t know what to expect. For me it is just another game.

?Cleveland have been pretty hot the last ten games or so, but we have done well against them in regular season play and will be looking to move into the finals.?

Nusum, who has settled in better than expected in the indoor game since his move loan move from the A-league outdoor outfit Toronto Lynx, will be a key part of his side?s play-off hopes.

?I am hoping to do my bit,? he continued.

?It?s another game for me to try and score goals like I have been doing all year. It would be great to get a trophy after my first year, I am excited about it although I don?t really know what to expect.?

One carrot dangling for the winners is the chance for increased exposure after an announcement that ESPN 2 will show the two-legged play-off finals ? which would allow more Bermudians to follow Nusum?s progress in the championship deciders.

?I guess it is quite important for the sport,? continued Nusum, who regularly attracts Islanders over to Philadelphia to watch him in action.

?All exposure is welcome and although I am pretty new here, I know that ESPN coverage would be great for the league.?

Standing between Nusum and a TV appearance, however, is a two-legged series against Cleveland, a result which will be determined in peculiar fashion.

Rather than being decided on aggregate, as all two-legged ties are in Europe, if both teams win a game each, regardless of the goals scored, the second game will go to golden goal overtime ? a system Nusum describes as ?pretty weird?.

?It was explained to us by the manager yesterday and it seems strange, pretty weird in fact,? he added.

?But we just have to get on with it and play and try to win the two games.?

Once the season is over for Nusum, be that this weekend or two weeks later if they are successful against Cleveland, the striker will have to make a decision about his future.

The original plan was to return to the Lynx at the end of the indoor campaign, but with the Canadian side already in action in their league, it is not yet clear how the arrangement will now work with Nusum unwilling to discuss the issue until after his indoor season is over.

Bascome?s Blast, meanwhile, failed to make the play-offs after a frustrating injury-hit campaign left them outside the top four in the league and unable to take a shot at a third straight title.