Can you solve this Baltimore sports-themed puzzle? I did. "Wheel of Fortune," here I come.
What looked like it may be a predictable game against the Norfolk SharX before 5,764 at 1st Mariner Arena did indeed have a predictable result but it came with some rather unpredictable twists and turns along the way. However, the Baltimore Blast prevailed, defeating the SharX, 18-10, and improving to 12-4.
Head coach Danny Kelly decided to give starter Sagu a rest tonight, and Baltimorean rookie Akira Fitzgerald got his first start at home. I’m wondering, though, if he got a bit bored in the first quarter, since the Blast dominated possession of the ball and the Norfolk SharX only got a whopping two shots on goal.
Veteran Carlos Garcia got scoring started for the Blast, finding the back of the net on an assist from Warren Ukah. Less than a minute later, forward Machel Millwood followed up, practically mini-punting the ball into Norfolk’s goal. A few minutes later, the Blast continued their battery, this time with J.T. Noone scoring off a pass from Max Ferdinand.
Fitzgerald made a couple of nice saves in the second quarter, and no one scored for almost 10 minutes, so the Baltimore Sun’s Glenn Graham and I played a rousing game of Baltimore sports hangman. I won, of course. I always win. I’m a winner. Then captain Mike Lookingland scored on a rekick, the ball tapped over to him from Ferdinand, and I started paying attention again because Mike Lookingland is a winner too. And after a short injury timeout for Fitzgerald, SharX forward Matthew Delicate scored on an assist from Tennant McVea before the half ended.
Just 31 seconds into the first half, Ferdinand scored off an assist from veteran Adauto Neto. Three and a half minutes later, Norfolk seemed to find more of a rhythm, managing their second goal, a hard-shot three-pointer authored by Miguel Ferrer on an assist from Gary Brooks. Shortly after, McVea scored off an assist from Matt Clare. But the Blast widened the margin again, when Noone scored his second goal, this time off an assist from Ukah, who tore up the field with the ball before making the pass.
And then things got very interesting. A mere 19 seconds into the fourth quarter, Norfolk’s Brian Hinkey was penalized two minutes for tripping, and the Blast capitalized with Neto scoring a power play goal on an assist from Lookingland. Things started to get chippier when Norfolk’s Andrew Marshall was penalized for boarding, and Fitzgerald was penalized for a handball outside of the box. With Garcia serving the in the box for him, Fitzgerald faced Brooks in a shootout. Rookie Stephen DeRoux wasn’t about to let Brooks score though, coming up behind Brooks and tackling him T-Sizzle style from behind. The refs called it tripping. I call it a sack.
Brooks got another chance at the shootout, and Fitzgerald made a spectacular save and then another with only three Blast players defending against four SharX. Confusing, I know. Basically everyone started taking cheap shots and then played shorthanded for a little while until all three power plays were killed.
A few minutes later, Millwood scored his second goal of the game off a pass from Noone. Neto was penalized for supposedly pushing after that; I didn’t see it, because I was watching Fitzgerald make another great save. However, the SharX missed yet another shootout attempt, with Delicate finding the post instead of the net. Still, with Neto in the box, Norfolk’s Cecil Lewis scored a three-point power play goal. But Baltimore answered back with Lookingland scoring his second goal off another assist from Ukah.
“The biggest thing is just to stay steady mentally,” Fitzgerald said. “Going through games, you’re going to have those ups and downs, and you can’t let your ups get you too high or your downs get you too low. You have to move on to the next situation and if you make a mistake, having a short-term memory. It doesn’t matter what game you’re in. You just have to deal with it that way.”
Things seemed to calm down for a few minutes, but then Lewis earned a blue card for holding on Adriano Dos Santos. As the power play wound down with the clock, Norfolk killed the power play, but not for much, as they dropped to 3-14 on the season.
Well…it’s like my dad always told me as I was growing up watching the Orioles — bad things happen to bad teams.
And if you want to see a good team named the Baltimore Blast, be here tomorrow for the matchup against the Rochester Lancers.
“Rochester, they’re ahead of Syracuse right now,” said Lookingland. “We’re definitely pushing ahead in the conference, but it’s a huge game for them and it’s a huge game for us. If we win a quick two games, we can maybe clinch a spot [in the playoffs] here soon.”
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I just want to go on record here and say that I was for realz impressed with the little bouncy jump-roping kids that performed during halftime. I liked that halftime show way better than the Medieval Times one.
What is Brooks Robinson?
Well done, sir.