1998-PRESENT BALTIMORE BLAST--THE KELLY YEARS
by Rick Benson
The second version of the Baltimore Blast, beginning in 1998, we have dubbed the Kelly years. Much like the original Blast had the stamp of its only coach Kenny Cooper, the current Blast is synonymous with Danny Kelly; who has coached Baltimore to five indoor league championships and played on three other Blast championship teams. Kelly also earned MISL All-Star honors three times and is a four-time MISL Coach of the Year.
For six seasons prior, indoor soccer survived in Charm City under the name of the Baltimore Spirit. When the MISL folded in 1992 and Blast owner Ed Hale decided to fold his team as well, the push was on to try and keep indoor soccer going. The new team was founded by North Carolina-based software executive Bill Stealey, a former Blast season ticket holder and joined the National Professional Soccer League. Stealey was heavily recruited by former Blast head coach Kenny Cooper to keep soccer alive in Baltimore as part of the league that had essentially put the MISL out of business. Not surprisingly, Stealey named Cooper as the Spirit’s head coach and he also served as team President and General Manager. Many former Blast players, such as Mike Stankovic (who was also an assistant coach), Tim Wittman, Chris Vaccaro, Rusty Troy and Doug Neely. Cooper coach the Spirit to division titles in his two season before stepping down in 1994. (For more on the Spirit—go to Vintage Teams—Spirit on this site).
After Cooper left, the Spirit struggled for the next four seasons as average attendance at the Baltimore Arena dipped below 5,000 per game. They finished dead last in the 1997-98 season with a 12-28 record. Stealey disclosed that he had not turned a profit in any of his six seasons and in May of 1998, he sold the team to none other than former Blast owner Ed Hale. Since he still owned the rights to the name, Hale renamed the team the Blast; much to the delight of the diehards who followed the original Blast.
The new Blast have won eight league champions and established Baltimore as the premier indoor soccer location in the country with a current streak of seven straight Division titles. The second generation Blast has featured stars like Denison Cabral (the franchise all-time leader in goals scored and five-time All-MISL), Sagu (eight-time All-MISL), Tarik Walker (2nd all-time in goals scored), Giuliano Celenza (3rd all-time in goals scored and two-time All-MISL), Mike Lookingland (2013-14 league MVP, four-time All-MISL and three-time Defender of the Year) and Pat Healey (four-time All-MISL and two-time Defender of the Year). They will begin their quest for the franchise’s 10th League title as they begin play in their new home, the SECU Arena, on the campus of Towson State University.
1998-99: An enthusiastic ad campaign proclaiming, “The Blast is Back”, ushered in the second coming of the Blast. There was improvement from the Spirit’s dreadful final season the year before with a finish 19-21; despite having to replace 60-goal scorer Bojan Vukovic. Denison Cabral (55 goals, 19 assists) and Tarik Walker (40 goals, 31 assists) led the Blast in scoring.
1999-00: The Blast ushered in Y2K by capturing their first NPSL Division title with a 26-18 mark. Denison Cabral earned his first All-Star honor with a league best 78 goals along with 25 assists. After dispensing of the Philadelphia Kixx 2-0 in the opening playoff round, the Blast were knocked out of the playoffs by the Central Division Champion Cleveland Crunch.
2000-01: Baltimore led the NPSL in goals scored as Denison Cabral hit the 70-goal mark for the second consecutive year. Tarik Walker (38 goals) and Mark Thomas (32 goals) added scoring punch along with a surprising newcomer named Paul Wright; the same player who was dispatched from Baltimore in a contract dispute nine years earlier. The Blast tied Buffalo and Philadelphia for 2nd place in the Eastern division and were eliminated by the Kixx in the conference championship two games to one. Archbishop Curley grad Jason Dieter joined Cabral as All-Star selections.
2001-02: A balanced scoring line-up featuring Denison Cabral (57 goals), Giuliano Celenza (31 goals), Sean Bowers (31 goals), Paul Wright (30 goals) and Tarik Walker (29 goals) wasn’t enough to keep the Blast from finishing below .500 with an 18-26 record. Cabral and Bowers were selected as leaqgue All-Stars and defender Billy Nelson was named league Rookie of the Year.
2002-03: Proving the old adage that timing is everything as Baltimore slogged through a 18-18 regular season and endured two coaching changes before they got hot in the playoffs and captured their first MISL Championship as the new Blast. Denison Cabral was again the Blast’s leading scorer with 28 goals and defender P.J. Wakefield took league Rookie of the Year honors with 25 goals.
2003-04: Blast legend and Calvert Hall grad Tim Wittman took over as head coach as Baltimore finished first in the Eastern Division with a 25-11 record. The Blast swept through the playoffs; going 4-0 to win their second straight MISL Championship. Denison Cabral (36 goals, 16 assists) and midfielder Chile Farias (22 goals 43 assists) earned All-Star honors while Giuliano Celenza finished second on the team with 33 goals. The Blast’s home—the Baltimore Arena—was renamed the 1st Mariner Arena as team owner Ed Hale was the bank’s CEO.
2004-05: With Denison Cabral limited to just seven games, the Blast took a major step backwards; finishing 7th in the Eastern Division. Giuliano Celenza picked up the scoring slack with 32 goals to earn All-Star honors while David Bascome added 28 goals. Long-time Blast goaltender Sagu had 267 saves in his first season in Baltimore.
2005-06: Tim Wittman and Danny Kelly shared coaching duties and Adauto Neto (36 goals, 28 assists) took MISL MVP honors as the Blast won their fourth League Championship. Sagu won his first of seven straight All-MISL selections. Kelly and Giuliano Celenza (team-leading 38 goals) also earned All-MISL honors. Machel Millwood was named MVP of the championship series.
2006-07: Despite 28 goals from Machel Millwood and 25 goals from Denison Cabral, the Blast finished in fifth place with a 15-15 record during Danny Kelly’s first full season as head coach and missed the MISL playoffs. Defender Mike Lookingland earned All-Rookie honors and Sagu was Baltimore’s lone All-MISL selection.
2007-08: Baltimore logged a 19-11 record to finish third in the MISL. After eliminating New Jersey and Milwaukee in the quarter and semi-finals, the Blast defeated Monterrey La Raza 14-11 in the championship game to win their fifth League Championship. Denison Cabral (36 goals 12 assists) and Machel Millwood (30 goals, 23 assists) were again the scoring leaders and defender P.J. Wakefield was named Rookie of the Year. Sagu earned his first of four Goalkeeper of the Year awards.
2008-09: With a new league name of the National Indoor Soccer League (NISL), Baltimore went 14-4 during the regular season and defeated the Rockford Rampage 13-10 at the 1st Mariner Arena to win the league championship with Sagu named as MVP. Blast mainstay Pat Healey burst onto the scene and earned Rookie of the Year honors and Danny Kelly earned his first Coach of the Year honors. Denison Cabral, Machel Millwood, P.J. Wakefield and Sagu were All-NISL selections. Giuliano Celenza led the Blast in scoring with 19 goals and Millwood added 18. Forward Adrian Bumbut joined Healey as an All-Rookie honoree.
2009-10: The Blast were denied a three-peat as Monterrey La Raza turned the tables from two seasons earlier and beat Baltimore 10-8 in overtime at the 1st Mariner Arena to advance to the championship. The Blast finished second in the regular season with an 11-9 record. Lucio Gonzaga, who logged time at forward, midfield and defender, was the Blast leading scorer (17 goals) and earned All-MISL honors along with Machel Millwood. Max Ferdinand was named Rookie of the Year and joined fellow midfielder Rod Dyachenko as an All-Rookie selection.
2010-11: The MISL dropped to just five teams and a single division and the Blast took first place in the regular season with a 15-5 record. In front of a raucous crowd of 10,274 at the First Mariner Arena, Baltimore lost to the Milwaukee Wave in the MISL Championship game. The loss didn’t keep Danny Kelly from earning Coach of the Year honors. Pat Morris tallied 16 goals and six assists and was named Defender of the Year. Joining Morris as All-MISL selections were Pat Healey (17 goals, 13 assists) and defender Mike Lookingland (4 goals, 7 assists); his first of four straight All-MISL honors.
2011-12: The two division format re-emerged with four new teams joining the MISL; including future rivals the Rochester Lancers and Syracuse Silver Knights. The Blast dominated the regular season once again; finishing first in the Eastern Division at 18-6. After knocking off the Rochester Lancers (8-2 at FMA and 14-8 at Blue Cross Arena), the Blast lost again to the Milwaukee Wave in the MISL Finals (14-2 at FMA and 12-10 in overtime at U.S. Cellular Arena). Mike Lookingland (12 goals, 8 assists) continued to emerge as one of the league’s best and was named Defender of the Year. Joining him with All-MISL honors were midfielder/defender Stephen DeRoux (10 goals, 1 assist), Machel Millwood (26 goals, 16 assists), Max Ferdinand (23 goals, 25 assists) and Sagu (.726 SV%, 4.40 GAA). Carlos Garcia added 18 goals and 11 assists for Baltimore and Stephen DeRoux earned All-Rookie honors.
2012-13: In what was arguably the Baltimore Blast’s greatest season ever; regular season dominance continued for the Blast as they finished first again with a 21-5 mark and didn’t stop there. They swept through playoffs; knocking off the Chicago Soul (22-13 and 10-7) and downing the Missouri Comets (21-12 and 8-6) to win their 7th league title. Coach of the Year Danny Kelly fielded a star-stocked team with Mike Lookingland (15 goals, 17 assists) once again earning Defender of the Year honors and joined Pat Healey (10 goals, 14 assists) as an All-MISL selection. All-Rookie selection William Vanzela also was named Championship MVP tending goal for the Blast. Team scoring leaders included Lucio Gonaga (21 goals, 11 assists), Machel Millwood (21 goals, 15 assists), Max Ferdinand (17 goals, 14 assists) and Tony Donatelli (17 goals, 12 assists).
2013-14: Another season, another first place finish for the Blast at 17-3 as the league condensed to seven teams. Baltimore went to the mini game tie-breaker to defeat Syracuse 4-3 in the semi-finals. Down one game to none in the finals, The Blast crushed the Missouri Comets 19-4 in game two at First Mariner Arena to force another Mini Game Tie Breaker. Unfortunately the Comets rallied to take the tie breaker 6-4 and win the MISL title. Mike Lookingland (17 goals, 18 assists) took home some hardware as both the MISL Most Valuable Player and Defender of the Year; as well as William Vanzela (Goalkeeper of the Year, .833 SV%, 2.55 GAA) and Danny Kelly (Coach of the Year). Blast leading scorers included Tony Donatelli (19 goals, 9 assists), Max Ferdinand (17 goals, 6 assists), Lucio Gonzaga (13 goals, 6 assists), Lucas Roque (11 goals, 12 assists) and All-Rookie selection Diego Zuniga (10 goals, 6 assists).
2014-15: The Blast was one of three teams to jump from the MISL to the Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) which resulted in the MISL’s collapse. Baltimore won the league’s Eastern division with an 18-2 record. After sweeping Rochester and Missouri in the Division and Eastern finals, the Blast advanced to the MASL Finals. After splitting the first two games, Baltimore lost in the Mini-game tie-breaker 4-3 to the Monterrey Flash in the MASL Finals. Danny Kelly again took Coach of the Year honors and All-MASL selections Pat Healey (7 goals, 22 assists) and William Vanzela (.815 SV%, 2.83 GAA) were named Defender of the Year and Goalkeeper of the Year respectively. Onua Obasi (9 goals, 10 assists) and Vini Dantas (16 goals, 4 assists) earned All-Rookie honors. Blast leading scorers were Lucas Roque (25 goals, 7 assists), Tony Donatelli (17 goals, 18 assists), Diego Zuniga (12 goals, 5 assists) and Max Ferdinand (12 goals, 16 assists).
2015-16: The Blast finished the regular season 15-4 and went undefeated in the postseason, winning four of their six playoff games in overtime, en route to the team's eighth League Championship. An 11-0 run to start the season and a division-clinching 10-5 victory over the Chicago Mustangs started Baltimore’s championship run. A double overtime 4-3 thriller at the First Mariner Arena over Missouri sent the Blast to the MASL finals. After winning the series opener, Baltimore won the first league title on foreign soil; defeating Soles de Sonora 14-13 in overtime with Lucas Roque (19 goals, 7 assists) named Championship MVP. Pat Healey (6 goals, 17 assists) earned his second straight Defender of the Year Award and joined goalkeeper William Vanzela (.791 SV%, 2.96 GAA) as All-MASL selections. Blast leading scorers included Vini Dantas (20 goals, 10 assists), Tony Donatelli (17 goals, 17 assists), Andrew Hoxie (15 goals, 5 assists) and Adriano Dos Santos (10 goals, 7 assists).
2016-17: After dropping game one of the MASL finals to Soles de Sonora 4-2 at the Royal Farms Arena, the Blast rallied to take game two 9-8 in overtime at El Centro de Usos Multiples. This forced a Mini-game tie-breaker that saw Baltimore win 1-0 to capture the Blast’s ninth League Championship with Vini Dantas earning series MVP honors. Dantas also was the team’s leading scorer with 20 goals and 11 assists. The Blast finished the regular season with a 14-6 record; capturing their seventh straight Division Title. Tony Donatelli (19 goals, 23 assists) and Andrew Hoxie (17 goals, 6 assists) provided added scoring punch and Elton de Oliveira earned MASL All-Rookie honors. The Blast announced in August 2017 that they would move from the Royal Farms Arena to the SECU Arena on the campus of Towson University, beginning in the 2017-2018 MASL season.
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