Blast Improves to 8-4 after Sweeping Home-and-Home Series with the Storm
Published on January 23, 2006 under Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2)
Baltimore Blast News Release
The Blast defeated the Chicago Storm twice this weekend, starting Saturday night with a 9-5 win at 1st Mariner Arena and then again Sunday evening with a 5-4 win in Chicago. Sagu earned both wins this weekend and Giuliano Celenza led the offense with three goals. David Bascome, Adauto Neto and Robbie Aristodemo added two goals each over the weekend. Ibrahim Kante scored the game-winner on Sunday with just 36 seconds left in the game and rookie Sumed Ibrahim made his Blast debut in Chicago.
Sagu Named MISL Goalkeeper of the Week: Blast goalkeeper Sagu was in goal for both Baltimore wins this weekend over the Storm and was named MISL Goalkeeper of the Week after his performances. Sagu improved to 6-3 on the season and ranks second in the MISL with a .732 save percentage and a 4.61 goals against average. Sagu stopped 20 of 25 shots in Saturday night's 9-5 win over the Chicago Storm and 12 of the 16 shots he faced on Sunday in the 5-4 win over the Storm. After six seasons with the Dallas Sidekicks, Sagu joined the Blast prior to the 2004-05 season. This is Sagu's first MISL player of the week honor this season.
Blast Inducted Third Class into Hall of Fame: On January 21st the Blast inducted Joey Fink and Dave MacWilliams into the Baltimore Blast Hall of Fame. Fink and MacWilliams, teammates on the 1983-84 Baltimore Blast championship team and 1980-90 All-Decade Team, took part in the festivities during halftime of the Blast vs. Storm game. Fink currently works for Raymond James Brokerage Firm and lives in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. MacWilliams resides in Philadelphia and is the head coach of the Men's Soccer Team at Temple University.
Fink and MacWilliams joined Kenny Cooper, Stan Stamenkovic, Mike Stankovic, Tim Wittman, Bruce Savage and Earl Foreman (the original commissioner of the MISL) in the Baltimore Blast Hall of Fame.
Next Games: The Blast (8-4, third place in the MISL) will play the St. Louis Steamers (10-3, second place) tomorrow night at 8:35 p.m. at the Savvis Center. The teams have met twice already this season, with each team winning at home. The Blast will return to Baltimore to host the Steamers Saturday night at 1st Mariner Arena and then will travel to Milwaukee Sunday morning for a 2:05 p.m. match at U.S. Cellular Arena.
Cabral Out for Remainder of Season: In a repeat of last season, Blast forward Denison Cabral will miss the remainder of the season with a torn ACL in his left knee. Cabral, who ranked third on the Blast in points after eight games this season, went down in the fourth quarter of Baltimore's 8-2 win over the Philadelphia KiXX on December 30th. Cabral left last season's November 12 game (vs. the Wave) with a right knee injury and missed the rest of the season after undergoing surgery. He returned to the playing field for this year's season opener (11/11) after missing 364 days of game action. In his first game back this season, Cabral recorded one goal and one assist, helping the Blast to a 9-4 win over the California Cougars. In eight games this season, he recorded eight goals and three assists for 11 points and ranked seventh in the League at the time of his injury. Cabral is Baltimore's all-time leading scorer with 720 points and ranks 29th all-time in the MISL in points.
In other injury news, Jonathan Steele and Machel Millwood left the January 7th game against the Wave with ankle injuries. Steele will be out for approximately a month with an ankle sprain and Millwood could return to game action this week.
Injury Report:
Player Status Injury Total Games Missed (Due to Injury)
Denison Cabral Out for season Knee 4
Jonathan Steele Out Ankle 2
Machel Millwood Questionable Ankle 8
Baltimore All-Time Regular-Season Records:
Season Regular-Season Record Postseason
1992-93 27-13 0-2
1993-94 26-14 0-2
1994-95 23-17 1-2
1995-96 25-15 3-3
1996-97 21-19 3-2
1997-98 12-28 DNQ
1998-99 19-21 DNQ
1999-00 26-18 2-2
2000-01 22-18 3-2
2001-02 18-26 0-1
2002-03 18-18 4-1
2003-04 25-11 1-0
2004-05 15-24 DNQ
2005-06 8-4
For Tickets: Blast season tickets and mini-plans are on sale now by calling the Blast office at 410-73-BLAST. Single-game tickets cost $20 and $17 and are available at the 1st Mariner Arena Box Office and by calling TicketMaster at 410-547-SEAT or online at www.ticketmaster.com. For additional information on all Blast tickets, call the Blast office at 410-73-BLAST.
Major Indoor Soccer League 2 Stories from January 23, 2006
- Steamers Push for First - St. Louis Steamers
- Blast Improves to 8-4 after Sweeping Home-and-Home Series with the Storm - Baltimore Blast
- KiXX battles the Chicago Storm in a home-and-home series commencing Saturday, January 28 - Philadelphia KiXX
- Sagu named MISL Goalkeeper of the Week - Baltimore Blast
- Wave's Howes named MISL Offensive Player of the Week - Milwaukee Wave
- Steamers Battle Baltimore Tuesday At Savvis - St. Louis Steamers
- Drew Kopp Named MISL Defensive Player of the Week - Philadelphia KiXX
- MISL names Players of the Week - MISL 2
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