Saturday, November 3, 2012
BALTIMORE -- The Baltimore Blast kicked off their 33rd season of professional indoor soccer on Saturday night with a fast-paced, high-scoring 23-13 win over the MISL’s newest team, the Chicago Soul. Led by newcomer Tony Donatelli, the Blast fought back from an early 7-2 deficit for the win in front of a crowd of 6,311 fans at 1st Mariner Arena.
Former Blast player Carlos Farias didn’t waste any time in getting Chicago on the board, giving the Soul a 3-0 lead after just 18 seconds. Donatelli, who recorded a hat trick in the first quarter and added an assist late in the game, scored his first goal in the second minute to cut the Soul lead to 3-2 before Farias scored two goals to complete a first-quarter hat trick and extend Chicago’s lead to 7-2. The Blast dominated the rest of the quarter, however, as Donatelli scored his second goal, Machel Millwood and Lucio Gonzaga each found the back of the net to give the Blast an 8-7 lead and Donatelli’s third goal put the Blast ahead, 10-7.
After an eight-goal first quarter, the second quarter featured just one goal, Farias’ fourth of the game, to bring the Soul within a point, 10-9, at the halftime break.
The third quarter resembled the first, fast-paced and high scoring as the Blast added five goals and the Soul scored two. Last year’s leading scorer Max Ferdinand scored his first goal of 2012-13 to extend Baltimore’s lead to 12-9 before Stephen DeRoux scored a 3-pointer to make it 15-9. Roberto Gallo hit back for the Soul, cutting the Blast’s lead to 15-11, but Mike Lookingland and Adriano Dos Santos scored back-to-back goals, making it 19-11 before Bato Radoncic scored the Soul’s second goal of the quarter. Pat Healey restored the Blast’s eight-point lead late in the quarter, giving the Blast a 21-13 lead heading into the final period of play. Millwood then scored his second goal of the game, and the lone strike of the fourth quarter, to round out the scoring.
The Blast remain at home for a pair of games next weekend, hosting the Chicago Soul on Friday night before the Syracuse Silver Knights visit on Saturday. Both games are scheduled to kick off at 7:35 p.m. ET, and tickets for every home game are available by calling 410-73-BLAST, at the 1st Mariner Arena Box Office or online at www.TicketMaster.com.