Veteran Adauto Neto scored a hat trick against Syracuse and contributed two assists as well. (Photo Courtesy www.shawnlevin.com)
No joke, it’s sweltering in the press box and the internet connection is spotty at best so it’s the fourth quarter and I’m breaking my rule of not writing ledes prematurely because I need to knock this bad boy out, haul ass home and stick my head in the freezer.
The Baltimore Blast we’ve become accustomed to seeing showed up tonight, absolutely routing the Syracuse Silver Knights, 21-6, before 4,864 fans at 1st Mariner Arena.
The Blast quickly got on the board first a few minutes into the game with veteran Machel Millwood finding the back of the net on an assist from fellow old guy Carlos Garcia. Millwood followed up shortly after with another two-pointer, this time off an assist from Max Ferdinand. And moments later, newcomer Stephen DeRoux scored a wide three-point goal off an assist from Adauto Neto. Syracuse answered with a goal by midfielder Andriy Budnyy, but as the first quarter wound down, Garcia notched another two points unassisted.
Not even a minute into the second quarter, the Blast continued their attack with DeRoux scoring again off an assist from Neto. Millwood and Ferdinand teamed up a second time, this time with Ferdinand scoring off a pass from Millwood. And about a minute later Neto scored an unassisted power play goal after Syracuse’s Marcos Chantel was penalized for tripping.
The Silver Knights scored first in the second half when day-walking ginger Cory Elenio scored 30 seconds in on a pass from Anthony Maher. But Neto answered, keeping the margin wide, scoring again on a pass from Garcia. And with three and a half minutes left in the quarter, Neto made Syracuse look like a rec team, gliding up the field and setting up a perfect shot to earn a hat trick for the evening. He did it on a pass from Ferdinand, who followed up with an unassisted two-pointer of his own.
Despite the heap of scoring, head coach Danny Kelly nevertheless attributed the win to good defense.
“We wanted to continue where we left off in Milwaukee,” he said. “We had a good game there, played real well defensively, didn’t give up a goal for three quarters in the game. It’s no secret, you’ve got to play good defense, you’ve got to block shots and you’ve got to limit the other team’s opportunities, and we did a great job of that tonight, limiting them to six points.”
Things started to get chippy in the fourth quarter after Jon Gruenewald scored unassisted, Syracuse’s third and final goal of the game. DeRoux was penalized for boarding and later almost got into a teeny tiny brawl with Maher, who was called for pushing.
Meh, sour grapes. I’d be annoyed too if my team just got rocked.
Filed in: Baltimore Blast, MISL.
Tags: Adauto Neto, Baltimore Blast, Carlos Garcia, Danny Kelly, Machel Millwood, Max Ferdinand, MISL, soccer, Stephen DeRoux, Syracuse Silver Knights, WIN column
It was nice to see the blast of old back on the floor that is how we play blast soccer the defence was great last night and the offence exploded
Do you think red velvet cake will cool down the press box?
[...] arena? Because the internet wasn’t spotty at best tonight. It was nonexistent tonight. I will never ever complain about it being spotty [...]
What was Ptah Meyers wearing for shoes last night? It appeared like socks with a thin sole on them.
I don’t know! Can’t see his shoes up on the sun. Sorry bud.