Silver Knights Upended by Blast
December 19, 2014 - Major Arena Soccer League (MASL)
Syracuse Silver Knights News Release
SYRACUSE, New York - SYRACUSE, New York - The Syracuse Silver Knights (2-4, Eastern Division #3) fell to the Baltimore Blast (7-0, Eastern Division #1) 12-4 at the War Memorial for the third time this season Friday night.
Coach Tommy Tanner talked about the quality of the Blast postgame.
"They finished very, very well. We had plenty of chances in the first half...They created better opportunities than we did tonight."
The Knights had the best of the chances early on in the game when Neto attempted a bicycle kick that was tipped onto the cross bar by Blast keeper William Vanzela.
Baltimore took their first real chance of the match thanks to Lucas Roque. The forward ripped a left-footed shot into the top left corner from straight away to give Baltimore a 2-0 lead with 12:31 to go in the quarter.
Moments later, Lucio Gonzaga put the ball through Bryan O'Quinn's legs from the left side to double the lead for the Blast with 8:56 to go in the first.
After a foul by Kaoru Forbess of Baltimore, the Knights cut the lead in half thanks to Nelson Santana. The captain took a few touches at the top of the arc on the shoot out and buried a shot passed Vanzela, making it 4-2 with nine minutes to go in the first.
The Blast answered seconds later though on a Tony Donatelli cross shot that beat O'Quinn to his left with 8:11 on the clock.
Vini Dantas converted the last score of the quarter with 2:31 to go making the score 8-2 in favor of Baltimore.
The second period was more defensive. The Knights grabbed the only goal of the frame after going on the power play with 2:38 left in the half. Six seconds into the man advantage Santana tapped in a cross from Corey Elenio to cut the Blast's lead to just four.
Scoring was at a minimum again in the third. Baltimore had a good chance midway through the quarter after a Santana foul resulted in a shoot out opportunity for the Blast's Gonzaga. O'Quinn was up to the task. On the one-on-one opportunity the Knights goalie held Gonzaga's shot keeping the score at 8-4.
With five minutes to go in the third Baltimore scored a fifth goal. Jonatas Melo slid a shot passed O'Quinn to convert the only strike of the quarter. Melo's finish made the score 10-4 Blast.
With five minutes left in the match, Baltimore put the game out of reach for Syracuse. Levi Houapeu scored a left footed effort that beat O'Quinn at the far post to put the score at 12-4.
Coach Tanner admitted his team made mistakes in the game, but he felt a little hard done by the score line.
"In the second half we just weren't good enough in finding feet and doing the right things and good movement. It's frustrating because in the [first half] they probably took four shots and scored six goals."
The Orange, Silver and Black are now 3-15 all time against the Maryland side, with a 1-9 record in the Salt City.
The Silver Knights have a quick turn around and now face the Rochester Lancers at the Blue Cross Arena Saturday at 1 p.m. EST. SSK is back in the War Memorial in the new year, Friday, January 9, at 7:30 p.m. EST in a Thruway Rivalry match. 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.
Major Arena Soccer League Stories from December 19, 2014
- Silver Knights Upended by Blast - Syracuse Silver Knights
- Blast Defeat Silver Knights 12-4 - Baltimore Blast
- Wave Celebrate the Holiday Season - Milwaukee Wave
- Lancers Prepare To Host Rivals In Thruway Matchup - Rochester Lancers
- Ontario Fury Win Fifth Straight, Beat Seattle 11-9 - Ontario Fury
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
