Baltimore edges St. Louis, 4-2, in MISL Championship Seris game one

Published on April 28, 2006 under Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2) News Release


BALTIMORE (Friday, April 28, 2006) - The Baltimore Blast is within one win of its third MISL Championship in the last four seasons. On Friday Baltimore scored three consecutive goals to gain a 3-1 second quarter advantage, and Blast reserve goalkeeper Sanaldo saved 22 of 24 shots on goal as the No. 3 seed Baltimore Blast defeated the No. 1 seed St. Louis Steamers, 4-2, at Baltimore's 1st Mariner Arena.

Adauto Neto, the MISL's second leading scorer during the regular season, gave the Blast a 3-1 lead 7:56 into the second quarter when he beat a pair of defenders and shot the ball past St. Louis' All-Star goalkeeper Brett Phillips for the game-winner. Jonathan Steele added a fourth quarter goal for Baltimore, which improved to 3-1 in the postseason, and 4-0 (3-0, regular season) against the MISL Regular Season Champion Steamers in games played at 1st Mariner Arena. Robbie Aristodemo and Giuliano Celenza also scored first half goals for Baltimore.

The deciding game of the 2006 MISL Championship Series Finals will be played on Sunday at Savvis Center in St. Louis (12 p.m. CST, live on ESPN2). The format for the 2006 MISL Championship Series Finals is a two-game, "home-and-home" series featuring the winners of the Championship Series Semifinals. In the event that the finalists split their two games, the 2006 MISL Champion will be determined by a "Golden Goal" session, which will immediately follow the conclusion of Game Two on Sunday afternoon in St. Louis.

Baltimore had advanced to the Finals via a "golden goal" last Sunday in Milwaukee. In stark contrast, St. Louis had won a pair of games in convincing fashion against Chicago, setting the stage for this weekend's Finals.

St. Louis, which completed the 2005-06 regular season with a 23-7 record, and as the MISL's top offensive (6.6 goals per game) and defensive team (4.6 goals allowed), started strong on Friday, scoring 1:25 into the action when Sandre Naumoski converted a Mali Walton assist for the 1-0 lead. St. Louis controlled the tempo early before a goal by Aristodemo, set up by a pass down the boards from Neto to Celenza and then across to Aristodemo, tied it at 1. In the second quarter, Celenza converted an assist from Machel Millwood at 2:01 of the period. Neto then scored, with the assist credited to P.J. Wakefield at 7:56 of the second quarter, making it 3-1.

The Steamers narrowed the margin to 3-2 with a goal by Joe Reiniger off a restart pass from Carlos Farias at 12:53 of the second quarter. However, the two sides played a scoreless third quarter, and Steele, who received the ball on a counter-attack by Neto, accounted for the game's final goal at 7:30 of the fourth quarter.

Baltimore was outshot 45-25 in the match, and won despite the absence of starting goalkeeper Sagu, who was sidelined after suffering a calf injury this week in practice. His replacement Sanaldo, a third-year MISL goalkeeper, stopped 22 of 24 shots on goal, making 11 saves in the final quarter.

"Sanaldo played unbelievably," Baltimore player-coach Danny Kelly said. "We couldn't have won the game without him playing the way he did. The way he stepped in like he's been playing all year was phenomenal."

Baltimore converted one of two power play opportunities in the game. St. Louis failed to capitalize on either of its man-advantage situations, which included a brief period when a pair of Baltimore players were in the penalty box.

Sanaldo was supported by team defense that was able to limit St. Louis' open shot opportunities and also contributed a total of 21 blocks, including seven by defender Wendell Regis and six by defender Billy Nelson.

Reiniger, who scored a goal for St. Louis and is making his ninth League Finals appearance in his career, praised the work of Baltimore's defense. "You have to give credit to Baltimore right now," Reiniger said. "They finished their chances and we didn't. Sanaldo played a great game and he was the difference."

Phillips stopped 13 of 17 shots in taking the loss for the Steamers.

St. Louis returns to Savvis Center for Game Two and the possible "Golden Goal" session on Sunday, beginning at 12 p.m., and televised on ESPN2. The Steamers are 15-1 this season at Savvis, including the postseason, and 3-0 against Baltimore in 2005-06.

"We need to keep playing good team defense (on Sunday), get five guys behind the ball and make it hard for them to score," Celenza said. "If we do that, our scoring chances will come."

Tickets for Sunday's Championship Final at Savvis Center are on sale now at Ticketmaster.com, the Savvis Center Box Office, Ticketmaster Outlets including the Blue Note Shops, Famous-Barr, The Ice Zone, and select Schnucks stores and via charge-by-phone at 314-241-1888. Good seats remain for Sunday's game, but tickets are selling fast. Doors open Sunday at 11:00 a.m. and fans are encouraged to arrive early and be ready when Savvis Center goes live to a national television audience on ESPN2 at noon.

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Major Indoor Soccer League 2 Stories from April 28, 2006


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