Silver Knights Crush Heat 26-8
December 13, 2014 - Major Arena Soccer League (MASL)
Syracuse Silver Knights News Release
SYRACUSE, New York - The Syracuse Silver Knights (2-3, Eastern Division #4) ended their two game losing streak with a commanding 26-8 win against the Harrisburg Heat (0-6, Eastern Division #5) at the Oncenter War Memorial Arena.
In the first meeting between the two sides, the Silver Knights impressed in front of their home crowd, opening the scoring less than a minute in.
Midfielder Slavisa Ubiparipovic scored a brace. He was one of three Syracuse performers to score two goals, along with Darren Toby and Corey Elenio.
"We played as a team, we played as a unit, we played together," Ubiparipovic said. "We've got to work in practice to get ready for Baltimore next week."
"It was a promising effort," SSK Coach Tommy Tanner praised. "Our finishing was still a bit off, but the guys got it done."
Rick Pflasterer earned his second career victory. The former Cornell standout saved seven shots, in just his second start. Coming into tonight, Pflasterer had not appeared in a Knights match since a 20-8 against the Rochester Lancers on November 23, 2013.
The Orange, Silver and Black started the match on the front foot. Domenico Vitale scored on a one-timer from Kenardo Forbes to put Syracuse up 3-0 with 14:01 left in the first quarter.
Pflasterer recorded his first career assist moments later. The goalkeeper launched a pass deep in behind of the Harrisburg defense. Darren Toby let the ball bounce twice before depositing it into the back of the net. The strike put Syracuse up 5-0 with 8:56 left in the opening frame.
The Heat notched one of its own at the 6:50 mark. Jade Mesias pounced on a back pass by Marcos Chantel to score his second of the year and made it 5-2.
Ubiparipovic scored the first of his two goals late in the first period. With 3:48 to go, Slav curled an effort into the top corner past a flat footed Doug Petras to give the Knights a 7-2 lead.
Petras came up huge for Harrisburg in the second quarter. The indoor soccer veteran denied Ubiparipovic his second goal on a diving save, for one of his 18 rejections.
The Knights went into halftime with a commanding 11-4 advantage.
The Bosnian completed his double to open the second half. Neto fed the striker for his fifth goal of the season on a creative off-the-boards pass. Ubiparipovic finished it off balance with 12:21 left in the third quarter.
At the 5:30 mark in the third frame, Rick Pflasterer showed athleticism in net during a hectic bit of play. The Knights goalkeeper needed two saves and two clearances off the line to dispel of the danger in front of his net.
Neto, Nate Bourdeau, Cory Elenio, Darren Toby, Marcos Chantel and Anthony Grant all chipped in for goals in the final 30 minutes to push Syracuse to the runaway victory, 26-8.
SSK is now a 5-0 record against Pennsylvania opponents in all competitions.
The Syracuse Silver Knights stay in the friendly confines for a matchup against the Eastern Division leaders, the Baltimore Blast, on Friday, December 19, at 7:30 p.m. EST. Tickets to all Silver Knights home games will be available at the CNY Family Sports Centre, online at www.syracusesilverknights.com or over the phone at 315-303-7261.
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Major Arena Soccer League Stories from December 13, 2014
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