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Soul Beaten by Blast in Game One of Semifinals

March 6, 2013 - Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL)
Chicago Soul FC News Release


CHICAGO -- The Chicago Soul were unable to contain the Baltimore Blast in Game One of the MISL Semifinals, dropping 22-13 on Tuesday night at the Odeum Sports and Expo Center. The Blast, who received a huge boost from hat tricks by Adauto Neto and Lucas Roque, proved to be too much for the Soul in the second half.

"We just fell apart in the second half," said Soul Head Coach Novi Marojevic. "We struggled defensively and gave up a lot of cheap goals. We made a lot of mistakes, and a team like Baltimore will make you pay for that. It's disappointing, especially after we got off to a good start."

The MISL Playoffs opened up to an action-packed first quarter with Chicago's Marco Sullo getting things going with the first goal of the game to put his squad ahead 2-0. However, the Soul struck some bad luck on the opposite end as a ball was accidentally tipped into the goal by their own defender, Fred Degand, forcing a tie game. The goal was accredited to Roque, who had the last touch for Baltimore. Chicago bounced back on a goal by Carlos "Chile" Farias, but the lead was short-lived as Roque was able to quickly retaliate for the Blast to make it a 4-4 game. Baltimore then took the lead on a goal by Neto, and Chicago headed into second-quarter play trailing 6-4.

Neto struck again in the opening minutes of the second period to double Baltimore's lead. Chicago's Carlos Muñoz was able to cut that lead as he fired the ball into the net minutes later, and the Soul went into halftime trailing 8-6 to the Blast.

Second-half action began with another goal from Neto, who completed his hat trick and gave the Blast a 10-6 advantage over the Soul. Baltimore followed up with a goal from Machel Millwood, and Chicago went on to trail 12-6 after three quarters of action.

Lucio Gonzaga gave the Blast a commanding 14-6 lead over the Soul as he sent home a ball fed by Neto early in the fourth period. Baltimore's Ptah Myers blasted one from the 3-point range to make it a 17-6 Blast advantage, but Chicago's Pablo managed to respond with a 3-pointer of his own to make it 17-9. Roque completed his hat trick shortly after, and Tony Donatelli added a goal for the Blast to make it a 21-9 Soul deficit. Chicago made attempts to close the gap as Muñoz followed up with a pair of goals to complete his hat trick, but the Soul still fell 22-13 to the Blast.

"Baltimore is a great, experienced team," said Marojevic. "They really showed that today. But this is the playoffs, and anything can happen. I still have confidence in our guys and believe that we can turn things around on Saturday. We'll continue to train hard this week and get ourselves in a good mental state between now and then."

The Soul will travel to Baltimore on Saturday, March 9 for Game Two against the Blast. Kickoff is set for 6:35 p.m. CT at the 1st Mariner Arena.

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