Baltimore Blast Wins Three Games, Moves To Second in League

By Nicholas Murray, MISL 

The Baltimore Blast (7-2) won three games over the past week to move into second place in the seven-team Major Indoor Soccer League standings, one-half game behind the 7-1 Milwaukee Wave.

League Results:

Tuesday, Dec. 31:

Baltimore 24, Pennsylvania 0: Levi Houapeu and Diego Zuniga each had five-point games as the Baltimore Blast recorded their second shutout of the Pennsylvania Roar this season. 

Former Philadelphia Union player Houapeu provided the assist on J.T. Noone’s opening goal, and then found the back of the net himself to give the Blast a 7-0 lead after Mike Lookingland had struck from 3-point range midway through the first. Zuniga’s two tallies came on either side of halftime, the second from 3-point range, while Houapeu completed his best performance for the Blast to date with the final goal of the game.

Milwaukee 20, Syracuse 10: The Milwaukee Wave claimed sole possession of first place in the MISL as they pulled away in the second half to take a 20-10 victory against the Syracuse Silver Knights  Tuesday in front of 4,559 fans at U.S. Cellular Arena. Ian Bennett and Carlos Munoz each recorded a hat trick for the Wave.

The Wave grabbed an early 4-0 lead as both Tenzin Rampa and Nick Perera scored in the opening three minutes, but the Silver Knights were able to get back on level terms by the end of the quarter as Machel Millwood and Kenardo Forbes, on a penalty shot, each found the back of the net. 

Milwaukee again took a four-point lead on back-to-back goals by Bennett and Munoz, only for the Silver Knights to respond through Marcos Chantel. Forbes scored again early in the third quarter on a second penalty shot to tie the game 8-8, but Milwaukee then took control as it reeled off 12 consecutive points. Munoz got the ball rolling with a 3-point goal, and Bennett then scored a pair of goals to complete his hat trick on either side of the third-quarter intermission.

Marcelo Fontana added another for the Wave to make it 17-8 before Munoz struck again from 3-point range to complete his hat trick. Millwood scored a late consolation goal for the Silver Knights, but the Wave maintained their perfect record against Syracuse comfortably. 

Wednesday, Jan. 1
 
Missouri 19, Rochester 17: The Missouri Comets rallied to take victory against the Rochester Lancers as Vahid Assadpour capped a hat trick with the game-winning goal in front of 7,211 at the Blue Cross Arena. After Assadpour opened the scoring midway through the first quarter, the game exploded to life in the period’s final five minutes. Pedrinho gave the Lancers the lead with a 3-pointer before Gary Boughton made it 5-2 less than a minute later.

Missouri hit back with a 3-pointer of its own from Robert Palmer, but the Lancers regained the lead with 34 seconds to play in the quarter as Mauricio Salles also struck from long range to give Rochester an 8-5 lead. The Comets hit back with three consecutive goals from Leo Gibson, John Sosa and Assadpour to take an 11-8 lead in the opening five minutes of the second, but Rochester regained the lead soon after as Boughton scored from 3-point range, and Pedrinho added his second for a 13-11 lead. 

Lucas Rodriguez tied the game for the Comets before the halftime break, but Boughton completed his hat trick to restore the Lancers’ lead 49 seconds into the third before Bato Radoncic made it 17-13 two minutes later.

Missouri fought back, however, as Sosa and Ramone Palmer found the back of the net to tie the game before Assadpour’s third of the night proved the only goal of the final quarter and gave the Comets victory. 

Friday, Jan. 3

Milwaukee 13, St. Louis 11: The Milwaukee Wave overcame a spirited challenge from the St. Louis Ambush and used a hat trick by Pablo as they took victory in front of a crowd of 5,016 at the Family Arena. The Ambush twice took the lead in the first half, as Chad Vandegriffe scored once and Matt Kimball twice to give their side a 6-2 lead.

Pablo had the Wave’s opener, and pulled his side within a goal with his second at the 9:04 mark of the second quarter. The Ambush were able to hold onto their lead throughout the third quarter thanks to strong goalkeeping by Jeff Richey, but the Wave were able to break through as J.C.

Banks tied the game 28 seconds into the fourth. Pablo completed his hat trick a little more than two minutes later with a blast from 3-point range, but the Ambush hit back with a 3-pointer of their own by Kory Dowell to make it 9-9. 

The Wave regained the upper hand five minutes into the fourth as Victor Quiroz roofed a restart, and Milwaukee then gave itself breathing room as Marcio Leite made it 13-9 with 2:11 to play. Mike Roach pulled a goal back for the Ambush with 36 seconds to go, but the Wave were able to close out the contest and take their seventh win of the season. 

Baltimore 14, Missouri 6: Tony Donatelli had two goals and two assists to lead the Baltimore Blast to victory against the Missouri Comets in front 4,129 fans at Baltimore Arena. The Blast rallied from an early deficit as the Comets took a 4-0 lead on goals by Robert Palmer and Leo Gibson in the opening three minutes.
Donatelli got Baltimore on the board before the end of the first quarter, and the game entered the halftime break tied as Adauto Neto made it 4-4. Baltimore then took control late in the third quarter as the Blast got back-to-back goals by Lucio Gonzaga before a long-range finish by Max Ferdinand made it 11-4 in the final six minutes of the period.

Gibson pulled back a goal for the Comets early in the fourth, but Missouri got no closer as Donatelli capped his performance with a 3-pointer into an empty net in the final minute.  

Saturday, Jan. 4

St. Louis 14, Rochester 12: The St. Louis Ambush rallied late as goals in the final two minutes by Dan Antoniuk and Kory Dowell lifted their side to victory against the Rochester Lancers in front of 4,398 fans at the Family Arena. 

The teams went back-and-forth in the opening 30 minutes as the lead was exchanged five times. Odaine Sinclair scored twice for the Ambush, with his second giving St. Louis a 7-6 lead in the second quarter, but the Lancers then reeled off consecutive goals by Elliot Fauske, his second of the game, Edgar Bartolomeu and Mauricio Salles to take a 12-7 halftime lead. 

St. Louis held the Lancers without a goal in the second half, but despite Kyle Hopson’s goal early in the third quarter for the Ambush it appeared Rochester would be able to hold on to a vital victory. With the sixth attacker on, however, the Ambush were able to grab victory.

Antoniuk reduced his side’s deficit to one with 1:46 to play, and then Dowell drove a 3-point goal from the left side of the arc into the right corner of the net with 56 seconds remaining to lift his side to its fourth win of the season. 

Baltimore 16, Pennsylvania 5: The Baltimore Blast moved within a half-game of the Milwaukee Wave at the top of the MISL standings as they took their sixth consecutive victory by defeating the Pennsylvania Roar at Baltimore Arena in front of 4,585 fans. 

Mike Lookingland and Diego Zuniga each had hat tricks for the Blast, with Zuniga scoring the game’s first two goals after a scoreless first period. Lookingland’s three finishes all came in the second half as the Blast stretched their lead, while Jerjer Gibson and Ptah Myers scored consolation goals for the Roar, who remained winless. 

Sunday, Jan. 5

Missouri 11, Rochester 9, OT: Vahid Assadpour scored the game-winner 43 seconds into overtime as the Missouri Comets defeated the Rochester Lancers in front of 3,107 fans at the Independence Events Center. The Comets never led in regulation as the Lancers grabbed a 5-0 lead midway through the second period on goals by Doug Miller and Elliot Fauske from 3-point range.

Assadpout got the Comets on the board with a 3-pointer of his own, but Rochester held a 7-3 halftime lead as Gary Boughton scored with 51 seconds to play. Missouri quickly tied the game after the break as Bryan Perez and Alex Megson both scored in the opening 1:49 of the third quarter, but Rochester regained the lead as Bato Radoncic scored on a power play.

Missouri’s Coady Andrews got the Comets back on level terms before the end of the third quarter, and after neither side was able to find the back of the net in the fourth the game headed to overtime, where Assadpour proved the difference as he put home a quickly-taken free kick by John Sosa to move the Comets into a tie for third place with Syracuse.

RESULTS

Tuesday, Dec. 31
Milwaukee 20, Syracuse 10
Baltimore 24, Pennsylvania 0 

Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2014
Missouri 19, Rochester 17 

Friday, Jan. 3
Baltimore 14, Missouri 6
Milwaukee 13, St. Louis 11 

Saturday, Jan. 4
St. Louis 14, Rochester 12
Baltimore 16, Pennsylvania 5 

Sunday, Jan. 5
Missouri 11, Rochester 9, OT 

SCHEDULE
Friday, Jan. 10
Missouri at Syracuse, 7:30 p.m. ET 

Saturday, Jan. 11
Rochester at Milwaukee, 7 p.m. ET
Missouri at Pennsylvania, 7:05 p.m. ET