Blast Defeat Tropics 8-7; Clinch #1 Seed in Eastern Conference
February 24, 2018 - Major Arena Soccer League (MASL)
Baltimore Blast News Release
The Blast defeated Florida in overtime 8-7 to end the regular season undefeated at home. In front of a crowd of 3,631, Andrew Hoxie recorded three goals and one assist, and Juan Pereira scored two goals and one assist for Baltimore. Freddy Moojen and Ricardo Diegues had two goals each for the Tropics.
The teams traded goals in the first quarter. Jonatas Melo scored for the Blast and Lucas Teixeira scored for Florida to even the game at 1-1 after one quarter. The Blast started the second quarter quickly, scoring the first three goals. Goals by Tony Donatelli, Andrew Hoxie, and Nelson Santana gave the Blast a 4-1 lead. Florida answered with two straight goals of their own, with Ricardo Diegues and Freddy Moojen scoring for the Tropics. Andrew Hoxie scored his second goal of the game to give the Blast a 5-3 lead at halftime.
Florida came out of halftime strong, scoring four unanswered goals in the 3rd quarter. Goals by Freddy Moojen, Mauricio Salles, Victor Parreiras, and Ricardo Diegues gave Florida a 7-5 lead heading to the fourth quarter. The Blast responded with two unanswered goals of their own in the fourth quarter. Andrew Hoxie and Juan Pereira scored for Baltimore to send the game to overtime. Juan Pereira scored his second goal of the game 14 seconds into overtime to win it for the Blast.
This is the second straight win overall for Baltimore, and 11th straight at home. With the win, the Blast clinch the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference and have home-field advantage through the Eastern Conference Finals. Tony Donatelli recorded one goal and one assist and Vini Dantas had two assists in the game. Blast goalkeeper Joey Kapinos had 10 saves. Victor Parreiras recorded one goal and two assists and Piotr Sliwa had 17 saves for Florida.
The Blast are back in next Sunday, March 4th when they travel to Syracuse to take on the Silver Knights in the regular season finale at 4:05 p.m. EST. The game can be streamed at MASL.tv or on the MASL app.
MASL Match Report
Match: Baltimore Blast vs. Florida Tropics
Date: February 24, 2018
Venue: SECU Arena, Towson, MD
Kickoff: 6:05 p.m. EST
Attendance: 3,631
Scoring Summary:
Goals  1 2 3 4 OT F
Baltimore 1 4 0 2 1 8
Florida  1 2 4 0 0 7
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Major Arena Soccer League Stories from February 24, 2018
- Syracuse Clinches Playoff Spot Despite Loss to Harrisburg - Syracuse Silver Knights
- Tropics Battle Baltimore to Overtime But 8-7 Loss Eliminates Florida from Playoff Contention - Florida Tropics SC
- Blast Defeat Tropics 8-7; Clinch #1 Seed in Eastern Conference - Baltimore Blast
- San Diego Sockers Match Notes vs. Rio Grande Valley - San Diego Sockers
- Tacoma Stars Stay Alive with 8-6 Win over Ontario - Tacoma Stars
- Ontario Fury's Playoff Hopes Take Blow in Loss to Tacoma - Ontario Fury
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