Ball So Hard

Posted by Staci on Friday, December 16th, 2011

Carlos Garcia

Carlos Garcia scored twice in tonight's game against the Missouri Comets. (Photo courtesy of Shawn Levin - www.shawnlevin.com)

I learned my lesson.

I don’t write positive ledes now until the win is in the books. And I’m happy to report that my little superstition here worked out just fine, as the Blast claimed a 17-9 victory over the Missouri Comets — their first win at home in their last home game of the year.

“The home win was crucial,” said head coach Danny Kelly. “We had to win after losing two games in a row. We started off well, but at times we switch off in games. We have to cut that out.”

For the first time in a while, the Blast got onto the board early when Missouri goalkeeper Danny Waltman came a few feet out of the goal. Newcomer Shaun David took a shot off a pass from Pat Healey and the nearby Missouri defender wasn’t able to make the block. Just over five minutes in, Missouri served a two-minute penalty for the team having too many players in the field, and in 20 seconds, Adauto Neto found the back of the net to put the Blast up by 4. A few minutes later, Carlos Garcia was put in the box for practically plowing down a Comet (officially called holding), and he also received a yellow card with a five-minute penalty for misconduct. With David serving the two minutes in the box, a tight defense on the power play team, and a beautiful diving save from Sagu, the Blast killed the power play opportunity.

Things stayed quiet in the second quarter until Missouri’s newly signed Tiguinho scored from the left off an assist from the Comets’ Neto. Missouri quickly scored again, this time from Geison to Neto, but the Blast followed up nine seconds later with a hard-fought goal from Machel Millwood on an assist from Matt Watson to regain the lead.

The Blast added to their lead to start the second half with a two-point goal from Garcia on a pass from Healey. Six minutes in, Missouri’s Vahid Assadpour was put in the box for a hand ball, and with only nine seconds left in the power play, Mike Lookingland sent a pass Garcia’s way, who knocked it off of Waltman’s back and into the net. Missouri’s Leo Gibson was able to put two more points on the board when David was penalized for striking. As time ran out in the third quarter, David found himself in the penalty box again, this time for kicking.

The Blast were able to kill that power play opportunity and get another one for themselves when the Comets’ Stefan Stokic was called for holding. Shortly into the power play, a controversial handball call was made on Missouri, and the referees decided to make it a drop ball. The Comets came away unscathed, but a few minutes later, Neto tore down the field and found the back of the net with a beautiful shot, bring the Blast up 12-6.

With just over four minutes left in the game, Missouri put in Assadpour as the sixth attacker. Like last week, it looked like it would pay off for Missouri when Tiguinho scored a three-pointer with just over two minutes left in the game, bringing the score to 12-9. From all the way downfield, however, Lookingland launched the ball and it rolled into the unattended goal. Shortly after, Ptah Myers followed up with a two-pointer, and the Blast notched their first home win, 17-9.

“At times during the game we had a lack of discipline,” Kelly said. “And then in the fourth quarter we showed that willingness to close out the game, to do whatever it took. We did what it took to win that game.

“A lot of times in that fourth quarter, it’s about an attitude. It’s about a willingness to do whatever it takes to get a win, and I think we showed that tonight.”

***

Tonight’s game was a bittersweet one for many fans and those in the organization as it marked the last home game of Watson’s Baltimore Blast career. The former UMBC Retriever, who has spent his five indoor seasons with the Blast, will join the MLS Vancouver Whitecaps in January. He has been a member of two championship teams, and has averaged over a point per game over the course of his career.

“I’m delighted to have an opportunity to play for the Vancouver Whitecaps and I look forward to being part of such a prestigious club,” said Watson in a press release sent out earlier today.  “I’m fortunate that since I started my career all the organizations I’ve played for have been synonymous with success and professionalism and I know Vancouver is no different. The Richmond Kickers, Carolina RailHawks and Baltimore Blast — I owe all these clubs a lot.  Baltimore means a lot to me for many reasons personally and professionally: I met my wife here, I went to school at UMBC, I started my career here and I won two indoor championships here — it’s really my home away from home. I wish the team luck and I know they’re capable of winning this championship. I thank Kevin Healey for allowing me to take this chance, as well as Danny Kelly and David Bascome. The fan support here is phenomenal and honestly there is no other MISL fans as dedicated as the ones in Baltimore.”

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Posted in Baltimore Blast, MISL | 5 Comments »

Happy Anniversary!

Posted by Staci on Monday, December 12th, 2011

Yum, chocolate

::cough::*hint, hint*::cough::

Do you know what today is?

Well, yes, it is Monday, but do you know what else it is?

No? Can’t guess?

Didn’t think so.

That’s right. It’s the day after our anniversary. And you forgot, didn’t you? DIDN’T YOU?! No? Well then, where’s my gift?

You know, I toil away over this hot keyboard day in and day out and this is the thanks I get? I know to you I’m just a blogger, but to me, you’re everything. I don’t take you for granted.

I mean, we made it to the nine spot together. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?!

No…don’t. Just stop. I can’t even look at you right now.

I know what you’re going to say. You’re going to tell me I didn’t do anything for the one-year anniversary of K&G either. Well that’s simply not true. I thought about it. I thought about it A LOT. And then I decided to wait and see if you’d remember first. And you didn’t. So you’ll never know what my gift was going to be.

(This is of course a boldfaced lie. I sat on my ass and watched football and then when that was over I decided I was too lazy to sign in to blog. All I was going to give you was a list of my favorite posts, starting with this one. Which ones were your favorites this past year?)

So I’m going to bed. You just find your way to the couch. Or the curb.

And if you want to make it up to me, I’m partial to Godiva.

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Posted in Unsoccer | 4 Comments »

Bad Luck Baltimore?

Posted by Staci on Saturday, December 10th, 2011

Mike Lookingland

Despite the fact that Mike Lookingland got the scoring started for the Blast, the home team was unable to defeat the visiting Syracuse Silver Knights, dropping the second game in a row. (Photo Courtesy of Baltimore Blast)

What has charmed the Blast on the road this season has thus far eluded them in Charm City. In the third home game of the season, Baltimore dropped its second in a row to the Syracuse Silver Knights, losing 12-9.

Baltimore fans have yet to witness a win at home this year.

“We’re finding ways to lose, and that can’t happen,” said head coach Danny Kelly.

The game got off to a quiet start with the two defenses remaining strong until 10 minutes in when Syracuse’s Daniel Stevens scored on an assist from forward Alex Megson, who killed the Blast the last time he was at 1st Mariner Arena. About a minute and a half later, Megson played the ball off the wall and found the back of the net for an unassisted score. But in the final minute of the first quarter, defender and newly named co-captain Mike Lookingland won everyone a Royal Farms coupon when he scored on an assist from Carlos Garcia.

After the Blast took several hard shots at the goal to no avail, veteran Machel Millwood gained the Blast the lead with a three-point goal on an assist from Garcia 4:32 into the second quarter. The Blast failed to take advantage of a power play opportunity after Syracuse’s Slavisa Ubiparipovic was penalized for kicking, and the half came to an end.

The Blast got off to a quicker start in the second half with rookies Mike Deasel and J.T. Noone teaming up with an assist and a two-point goal, respectively. And after a battle at the Syracuse net, the Blast prevailed with Max Ferdinand scoring on an assist from Millwood to stretch the lead to 9-4. But the Silver Knights answered shortly after with Stevens scoring again off a pass from Ubiparipovic. And just before the end of the third quarter, Syracuse evened the score when a shot by Marcos Chantel went off Deasel’s foot and rolled past Sagu, giving the Silver Knights three points.

“One of the issues has been we’re not sorting out our marks and getting organized defensively quick enough,” said Kelly. “And one breakdown up top can lead to a shot, a ball off the boards, and a three-point goal and they’re back in the game. That’s how quickly the game can change and that’s the message that they should have learned yesterday, how quickly things can change in an indoor game.”

Unfortunately, Syracuse broke the tie with defender Jeff Hughes flying down the field and launching a three-pointer into the goal. And with two and a half minutes left in the game, Kelly put Ptah Myers in as a sixth attacker.

But what worked last night for the Missouri Comets didn’t go as planned for the Blast. After a pair of timeouts for the longest 30 seconds in history, the time wound down and the Blast’s five-game winning streak was quickly darkened by a pair of losses at home.

Baltimore, are we a bad luck charm?

***

I don’t know who chooses the fan of the game when the cameras are scanning the crowd, but kudos to that guy for making me laugh tonight even more than I did last night over the T-shirt burritos. After panning the crowd, Nicki Paterson, “the gentleman in gray,” was chosen as the fan of the game, apparently for just sitting there.

Touche, camera man. Touche.

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Posted in Baltimore Blast, MISL | 2 Comments »

Another Home Loss

Posted by Staci on Friday, December 9th, 2011

Max Ferdinand

Despite Max Ferdinand's hat trick, the Blast were unable to come up with the victory against the Missouri Comets, losing 12-10. (Photo Courtesy of the Baltimore Blast)

There are some very handsome men in the arena tonight. I’m just sayin’.

And Beau the Soccer Cat isn’t even here! But Torrey Smith, Danny Waltman…le sigh.

As cute as Missouri Comets goalkeeper Danny Waltman is, however, he and his team were unable to defeat the Blast, who rolled to their sixth straight win to improve to 6-1 with a XX-X victory before 5,924 at 1st Mariner Arena.

Yeah, that was my lede until 30 seconds before the end of the game when Missouri put in Vahid Assadpour as a sixth attacker and midfielder John Sosa was able to whiff the ball right past Sagu’s nose to find the back of the net, resulting in a 12-10 loss, dropping them to 5-2.

The Blast’s only two losses this season have come at home — in as many games.

“We definitely wanted to do well in front of the home fans,” head coach Danny Kelly said. “We wanted to come in and show them that first game was an aberration; that wasn’t us. And I thought we started off slowly. The first seven and a half minutes we were poor. I thought after that we played pretty well. We stopped trying to force things, we got better at recognizing situations, finding the short guy. And from there I thought we managed the game pretty well.

“Midway through the fourth quarter it was little things. Not tracking guys well enough, not communicating well enough. Those little things lead to mistakes on the field. If you’ve got one guy who’s not doing what he should be doing on the field, you leave the other four guys on the field in a lurch and bad things can happen. We opened ourselves up to that.”

Missouri’s Ryan Junge got things started on a goal off an assist from Assadpour five and a half minutes into the first quarter. But the Blast answered, with Max Ferdinand scoring on a restart assist from Machel Millwood. Ferdinand scored the next goal as well in the second quarter, off a pass from Adriano Dos Santos.

Sometime between Blast fans throwing to the pro at halftime and the beginning of the second half, I fell into a red velvet-induced coma, but luckily I snapped out of it pretty quickly when rookie J.T. Noone scored off an assist from Carlos Garcia a couple minutes in. And a few minutes later, tearing down the field to make an unassisted goal, Ferdinand scored again for his first hat trick of the season.

The third quarter stayed exciting with Leo Gibson getting penalized for a hand ball halfway through the quarter. The Blast took advantage of the opportunity with Millwood scoring on the shootout. But Missouri answered with Geison (pronounced Jason) somehow squirting the ball through a wall of Blast players.

But the Blast appeared to be slipping late in the fourth quarter with Missouri’s Lucas Rodriguez scoring an unassisted goal and following it up with a pass to Cristiano 12 minutes into the quarter for a three-point goal to bring the margin to one point. And with only 30 seconds left in the game and Assadpour in as a sixth attacker, Sosa put the final nail in the coffin, despite the Blast putting in Ptah Myers as a sixth attacker.

***

As you know, I’ve been giddy all week for Torrey Smith’s appearance at tonight’s game. For a 22-year-old rookie, he was poised and gracious answering questions amidst the egregious Baltimore accents, and made some nice catches (as expected) during the “Throw to the Pro” at halftime.

Even if you’re a Blast fan and not a Ravens fan, or a Ravens fan and not a Blast fan, I think we can all agree that Baltimore has some of the best fans in all of sports. Even Torrey agrees.

“It was amazing,” he said of his first game. “Obviously I wanted to be a part of the Ravens’ organization, based on the organization itself, Ozzie Nusum, Coach Harbaugh, and the leaders they have on the team like Ray Lewis and Ed Reed. And not only that but being part of the same fan base, going to Maryland, it’s crazy. … I love going to away stadiums to see how loud they are, to see if I can hear Joe [Flacco] talking or not, whether or not we can hear him. But Ravens Stadium, it’s crazy. I think it’s the loudest stadium in the NFL.”

And how, Torrey. And how.

***

Um. Tonight they threw out burritos into the stands. Like t-shirts. But they were burritos. From Qdoba. Does anyone else feel like that’s a horrible idea? And…did any of you catch one?

***

Sunday is a very special day. You win a prize if you can guess what it is.

See you tomorrow night for the matchup against the Syracuse Silver Knights!

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Posted in Baltimore Blast, MISL | 2 Comments »

Definitely Hustler

Posted by Staci on Tuesday, December 6th, 2011

Adrian Bumbut

"That's my style. A spin." (Photo Courtesy of the Baltimore Blast)

What with the glamorous life I lead, I know you probably often wonder how I spend my free time.

Well, when I’m not at work looking at disturbing images of everything that can go wrong with your body; when I’m not at the gym, trying to prevent said things that can go wrong with your body; when I’m not shamelessly reading young adult novels about the post-apocalyptic future; and when I’m not transfixed in front of “The Wire” with my mouth open and my eyes glazed over, I do a lot of freelance work. Like this awesome blog.

And like some other stuff.

My homeboy Adrian “DJ B” Bumbut isn’t with the Blast any more, but I recently got to chat with the former forward about his fly ride for CBS Baltimore.

Enjoy. I know I did.

And Adrian? All I can say is — yo whip’s so coooold.

P.S. TORREY SMITH FRIDAY NIGHT! (Don’t forget.)

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Posted in Baltimore Blast, Unsoccer | 2 Comments »

Purple Friday with the Blast

Posted by Staci on Sunday, December 4th, 2011

Torrey Smith

Ravens wide receiver Torrey Smith (right) will be in attendance Friday night when the Blast take on the Missouri Comets. (Baltimore Sun photo by Kenneth K. Lam / September 25, 2011)

Truthfully, I wasn’t really looking forward to coming home. I have a tan. I had enough time to read three books and sleep 10 hours a night. I ate lots of delicious food. And I finally found the place where I truly belong — a retirement community (keep clicking so I can retire some time before my 110th birthday).

Don’t get me wrong. I missed Beau the Soccer Cat and some other fine Baltimoreans, but I wasn’t tangibly excited to be back until I realized that the Blast are back home Friday night. And not only are they back home, they’re bringing Torrey Smith with them to 1st Mariner Arena for the matchup against the Missouri Comets.

In case you live under a rock and you’re not sure who Torrey Smith is, he’s the Baltimore Ravens’ rookie wide receiver, who hails from the University of Maryland. The one who became the first rookie in NFL history to score three times in one quarter — on each of his receptions — in Week 3 against the St. Louis Rams (*swoon*).

Of course, I’m sure you’ll be at the game anyway, simply because wouldn’t you want to be there to celebrate the return of the Blast, who are now on a five-game winning streak? But in case you were debating between coming Friday night and coming Saturday night to see the Blast take on the Syracuse Silver Knights (and really, why wouldn’t you come both nights? I hear the Dippin’ Dots are great), Friday promises to deliver a double dose of awesome.

All fans in attendance can enter for a chance to participate in a “Throw to the Pro” event during halftime. And it’s T-shirt night, should you have a hankering for a Pat Healey shirt.

***

As mentioned above, the Blast are on a five-game winning streak. The fifth of these victories came last night during the Blast’s visit with the Rochester Lancers. Baltimore came away with a 10-4 behind defender Mike Lookingland, who notched two goals and an assist. Newcomers Stephen DeRoux and Adriano Dos Santos each scored as well, as did veteran forward Machel Millwood.

This latest win comes on the heels of two exciting announcements this week. First, the Blast’s second leading scorer, Adauto Neto, was named MISL Player of the Week after scoring a hat trick in last week’s drubbing of the Lancers. And second, all-badass goalkeeper Sagu was named MISL Goalkeeper of the Month for November for his .766 save percentage at the time of the selection.

Last season, I predicted he would earn that accolade each month of the season, and he should have…the MISL gods just wanted to spite me by giving it to someone else one quarter. Let’s see if he can do it this season. What do you think?

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Posted in Baltimore Blast, MISL | 3 Comments »

K&G Weekend Update

Posted by Staci on Tuesday, November 29th, 2011

Carlos Garcia

If you have to have your name in the Blast's record books, wouldn't you want it to be for something awesome like penalty minutes? (Photo Courtesy of the Baltimore Blast)

Alright, I admit it. It seems I was wrong. The first game of this season seems to have been an anomaly, as the Blast has gone 4-0 since then, outscoring opponents, 44-19 this past weekend in upstate New York.

The Blast routed the Rochester Lancers, 26-9, Saturday afternoon, and followed up yesterday with an 18-10 victory over the Syracuse Silver Knights, the authors of the season-opening drubbing.

Forward Matt Watson and babyface J.T. Noone led Baltimore’s offensive efforts with two goals each, and Machel Millwood contributed a three-point power play goal as well. Mike Lookingland, Max Ferdinand and Pat Healey all also scored.

It sounds like it was a chippy game, with both teams sending frequent visitors to the penalty box, including Carlos Garcia, who found his way there twice, giving him the dubious honor of making the top five of the Blast’s all-time penalty list.

P.S. Sorry this was late. I started writing this then got lured away by shopping and martinis. On a Monday night! (Not that I’m gloating.)

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Posted in Baltimore Blast, MISL | 1 Comment »

Blast Pound the Lancers, 26-9

Posted by Staci on Saturday, November 26th, 2011

This is better than a dateline.

I’m blogging to you from my vacation in Florida. I’m fighting hard for a K&G Employee of the Month nod. I think I have a good shot, don’t you?

The Blast played today in the first of two games this weekend. It doesn’t seem that Thanksgiving dinner slowed these guys down (the way it slowed me down to an overstuffed, drunken crawl), since they beat the Rochester Lancers today, 26-9.

Adauto Neto led the way with a hat trick, followed by Machel Millwood and new addition Shaun David, who had two goals each. Rookies J.T. Noone and Mike Deasel each scored as well, and so did Carlos Garcia, Max Ferdinand, Matt Watson and Pat Healey.

The Blast next take on the Syracuse Silver Knights tomorrow at 4 p.m. for a chance at redemption after the season opening loss.

***

A couple things happened over the holiday (err, well…while I was on holiday). Wednesday, the Blast signed veteran Shaun David, a forward who began his career in 2003 and has played for the Dallas Sidekicks, St. Louis Steamers, New Jersey Ironmen, Monterrey La RaZa and the Omaha Vipers.

The signing comes after forward Lucio Gonzaga was placed on the MISL’s inactive injured list after undergoing ACL surgery on his right knee.

***

And Tuesday, Sagu was named MISL Goalkeeper of the Week after allowing only 14 points during the course of two games last weekend. I feel like things like this happen so often that I really have nothing more to say about this.

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Posted in Baltimore Blast, MISL | 1 Comment »

Shmobbies & Movember

Posted by Staci on Monday, November 21st, 2011

Busy working for YOU!

So this week is everyone’s-in-town-and-I-have-to-see-everyone week and I am not sure I will have another opportunity to write before Thursday and wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving.

In the spirit of November and all its wonderfulness, I have a few non-soccer-related items to share.

Firstly, thanks for all your votes in the 2011 Baltimore Sun Mobbies. I came in ninth in the best sports blog category, which I think is pretty damn good for my first nomination. Especially since I beat Roch Kubatko by six spots, which was really my secret goal. Next year, we’ll be No. 1 though, amirite?!

Next, we all know October is breast cancer awareness month. But did you know that November is lung cancer awareness and prostate cancer awareness month? We’ll get to the prostates in a minute, but first lets talk about lung cancer. It sucks, and it has recently affected some people very near and dear to me. I also realize the economy sucks, so you know, do what you can. Just do it before you go broke throwing elbows at Wal-Mart at 5 a.m. Friday morning.

I recently participated in a D.C. walk to benefit the LUNGevity Foundation, and it was pretty awesome. I’d like to say we did the whole 5K, but less than halfway through our team decided to go to lunch. Why? Because that’s how we do.

If you have a few bucks to spare, click here to donate. You can click on any team member’s name and donate any amount — every little bit helps — but I’d recommend clicking the name “Carly Hamburger.” That’s my homegirl.

Now, onto the prostates. Let me tell you a little story. As I’m sure you’ve guessed, I have a journalistic pedigree rivaled only by the likes of Hunter S. Thompson, William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer. How did I earn this background, you ask? Obviously by putzing around at NYU for four years and doing as many internships as possible.

One such internship took place at Maxim, where I, an optimistic 19-year-old, learned the industry inside and out by transcribing interviews with dumb hotties and opening mail from prison inmates addressed to the aforementioned dumb hotties. One exceptional day, a fellow intern and I were tasked with finding eggnog for a feature to be included in the holiday issue. However, it was only September at the time and nary a bottle of eggnog was to be found in New York City.

So we set about making eggnog from scratch. Three gallons of it. So that three of our talented editors could see if they could each pound a gallon in an hour. Thus, trashcan ‘nog was born (since it was the only vessel large enough to hold three gallons). One dropped out and the other two decided to make it a who-could-do-the-most-nog-shots-in-15-minutes contest. To see how delicious my eggnog was, enjoy this holiday gift from me to you.

What does this long convoluted story have to do with prostates? Well, the winner of the eggnog contest is Steve Mazzucchi, who now donates his face to male reproductive systems every November for Movember, during which he grows an awesome moustache to raise money for the good cause. This is his fifth Movember of awesome facial hair, and if he hits his goal of $2,000, he will have raised close to $10,000 in all his Movembers combined. That’s almost as badass as drinking lots of eggnog, so if you want to help a brother out (and see his ‘stache), donate here.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Go Ravens, and go Blast!

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Posted in Baltimore Blast, Unsoccer | 2 Comments »

J.T. Someone

Posted by Staci on Sunday, November 20th, 2011

J.T. Noone

J.T. Noone's first career goal got the Blast's weekend off to a stellar start.(Photo Courtesy of the Baltimore Blast)

I’m not gonna lie.

Years of being an Orioles fan has conditioned me to expect the worst. And after last week’s home opener, optimist that I am, I was ready to write off the Baltimore Blast’s 2011-2012 season altogether. Frankly, I was still at that point Friday night when I came home from dinner, checked the score and saw a tied game going into overtime against the Missouri Comets.

And then, just like that, almost nine minutes into overtime, this rookie guy, J.T. Noone, scores the goal to even out the Blast’s record to 1-1 with a 10-8 victory heading into a Saturday night matchup against the Wichita Wings, helping the Blast redeem themselves and gain momentum for the next soccer-packed few weeks.

Ptah Myers was the first to score for the Blast, followed by Mike Lookingland and Max Ferdinand. Matt Watson scored in the second quarter, but Missouri evened the score in the fourth before the Blast eked out the win in overtime.

Saturday night’s game against the Wichita Wings wasn’t as tight. Myers got the Blast started again with a two-point goal, followed by one from Carlos Garcia. The Wings’ Jamar Beasley tied it up with two goals of his own in the second quarter, but Adauto Neto and Pat Healey each contributed three-pointers.

In the third quarter, Ferdinand followed with his third goal of the season in as many games, and although the Wings scored again, it wasn’t enough to overtake the Blast, who came away with a 12-6 victory.

The Blast continue on the road this week, heading to Rochester Saturday and Syracuse Sunday.

Brrr.

I’ll be sunning myself in Florida. There should be some teams in warmer places.

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Posted in Baltimore Blast, MISL | 8 Comments »