Syracuse Defeats Baltimore 6-4 in Regular Season Finale
March 4, 2018 - Major Arena Soccer League (MASL)
Syracuse Silver Knights News Release
SYRACUSE, N.Y.- Bo Jelovac tallied 3 goals and 2 assists to help the Syracuse Silver Knights (13-9) secure a 6-4 home victory against the Baltimore Blast (17-5) to end the regular season.
The game began with a slow offensive start for each team. Both Logan Roberts and Darren Toby missed open shots to the right of the box to keep the game scoreless early in the opening period. But Syracuse was persistent from that spot in the attacking third, as Bo Jelovac snuck one past Joey Kapinos to break the ice with 7:39 remaining in the first.
"His size, his nature, his determination. He's a handful," said Head Coach Ryan Hall about his forward. "You get a guy that size moving forward, that's hard to stop."
Baltimore was determined to find an equalizer, continuously attacking the net. Jonathan Greenfield hit the left post off a top of the arch shot, before Domenico Vitale blocked away Daniel Peruzzi's attempt off a free kick.
After one quarter, Syracuse maintained a 1-0 lead, while trailing 5-2 in shots on goal. The Silver Knights were quick to extend their advantage, where just 41 seconds into the second quarter, Liam Callahan found Jake Schindler for the score.
Syracuse controlled the tempo leading 3-0 after Nate Bourdeau scored on a power play goal five minutes later. But the Blast's response came fast. Just 12 seconds later, Jereme Raley fed Tony Donatelli to cut the lead to two.
Eager to stifle any momentum, Syracuse regained composure and clamped down on defense. The Silver Knights held the Blast without a goal for the rest of the half, and tacked on another for good measure. With less than four minutes left, Jelovac sent in his second of the game from in front of the cage.
Syracuse led 4-1 entering halftime, and the pace of play picked up astronomically following the break. Early in the third, Jelovac was charged with a blue card for dangerous play. Peruzzi capitalized on the man-up opportunity by sending a feed from Pat Healey through to cut the deficit to two.
But, just like in the first half, the Silver Knights prevented the Blast from ever going on a run. Jelovac completed a hat trick with ten minutes left in the third to put Syracuse back up 5-2. However, the Blast wasn't going away, as Peruzzi scored less than two minutes later to make it 5-3.
"We definitely have to go back to the drawing boards," emphasized Hall. "And figure out what's going on at the beginning of the third quarter, why we fall into those lulls."
That remained the score entering the final period, and all of a sudden, the contest turned into a defensive battle. Neither team scored for eleven minutes, until Peruzzi found Raley for a goal to make it 5-4.
Baltimore used Healey as a sixth attacker with under a minute to go, but Syracuse hung tough. A late breakaway allowed Kenardo Forbes to get behind the defense and poke one in with .3 left on the clock.
"The guys stepped up," said Hall. "Credit to them, paying attention and making sure they're absorbing during the training sessions."
Andrew Coughlin finished with 13 saves in the victory. Schindler and Forbes each tallied 2 points.
"Andrew stood on his head tonight," explained Hall. "We've got to help Andrew out. We've got to be tighter in the box. We can't assume that Andrew's going to make these high flying saves every single time. He did enough tonight and we've got to reward him by making sure we do our job defensively."
The next time the Silver Knights take the field is Thursday, March 8th at home. Syracuse squares off against Baltimore again for the first round of the 2018 Ron Newman Cup Playoffs at 7:05. For information on tickets and more, call 315-303-7261 or log on to syracusesilverknights.com.
Major Arena Soccer League Stories from March 4, 2018
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- Six Straight Second Half KC Goals Sink Tropics in Season Finale, 10-6 - Florida Tropics SC
- Syracuse Defeats Baltimore 6-4 in Regular Season Finale - Syracuse Silver Knights
- Blast Drop Regular Season Finale, 6-4 in Syracuse - Baltimore Blast
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