2017 MASL CHAMPS | bmoresportsnest

2017 MASL CHAMPION BALTIMORE BLAST

On 'magical night,' resilient Blast repeat as MASL champions

By Glenn Graham, The Baltimore Sun 4/10/17

A monumental team effort was needed for the Blast to will their way to a successful defense of their Major Arena Soccer League championship in a rematch against Soles de Sonora in Hermosillo, Mexico, on Sunday.

It also took plenty of heroes. Forward Vini Dantas was the last and arguably biggest.

After a two-goal, three-assist effort in Game 2’s 9-8 overtime win, Dantas scored the lone goal in the deciding 15-minute mini game as the Blast claimed a 1-0 win over the Soles to capture the Newman Cup before 8,000-plus fans at El Centro de Usos Multiples.

The Blast captured Baltimore’s ninth professional indoor soccer championship, and did so in epic fashion.

Goalie William Vanzela was brilliant in both games, sealing the mini game win with a reaction save on a heavy shot from Gustavo Rosales with 1:08 left.

“What we did tonight and the entire season is something that me – being in five finals and a professional since I was 16 – has never experienced before. We are an unbelievable team that never ever gave up, and nobody deserved it more than us. It’s a magical night that will be forever on our minds."

Dantas was named the championship series Most Valuable Player, finishing with a league-high 19 points in the postseason with nine goals and 10 assists.

Vanzela was the playoff leader with a 4.53 goals against average, including the shutout in the title deciding mini game on Sunday.

After falling behind 8-7 with 18 seconds to play in Game 2, Adriano Dos Santos crashed the goal and kneed home a tying goal with 11 seconds left. That allowed Juan Pereira to slip behind the Soles defense in overtime, collect a feed from Dantas and score the game winner to send the championship series into the deciding mini game.

The Blast put themselves in a tough spot with a poor Game 1 performance in Baltimore on Friday – falling 4-2 – and were faced with the task of taking two on the road against a Sonora team that hadn’t lost at home all season.

As they’ve done time and time over, they proved up to the task.

The Blast never led in the series until Pereira’s winning goal in Game 2. They fell behind by three goals in the third quarter before rallying to tie the game at 7 on a left-footed strike from Dantas down the left side with 11:51 to play in the fourth quarter.

Overtime looked likely as the fourth quarter wound down, and then, suddenly, a Blast loss looked inevitable when Sonora star Franck Tayou scored his third goal of the game with 18 seconds to play.

Dos Santos getting the game tied seven seconds later epitomized the Blast’s whatever-it-takes effort. Tumbling at the goal line behind Sonora goalie Diego Reynoso, he located the ball and was able to get a knee on it to put it in the back of the net.

Pereira’s overtime winner came with 7:59 left.

Midfielder Tony Donatelli finished with two goals in the second game; defender Pat Healey added a goal and an assist while playing strong in back.

In winning last year’s championship, the Blast went 6-0 in the playoffs with two-game sweeps against the Syracuse Silver Knights (Eastern Division final), Missouri Comets (Eastern Conference final) and then Sonora in the league final.

It wasn’t easy, however.

Four of the wins came in overtime – one in double overtime and a second in triple overtime – with the Blast getting an overtime goal from Tony Donatelli to seal the league crown with a 14-13 overtime win against Sonora in Mexico.

The Blast’s path to this year’s championship showed even more resolve.

After opening with an upset home loss against the Harrisburg Heat in the Eastern Division final, they went to Harrisburg and rallied from a 3-0 deficit in Game 2 before winning the deciding mini game.

In the Eastern Conference final, the Blast were again pushed to the limit against the Milwaukee Wave before claiming a 2-1 road win in the mini game.

Nine is Divine: Baltimore Blast pull off miraculous championship win

by Brandon Weigel, City Paper 4/10/17

Down 0-1 in the MASL championship series after a defensive, physical 4-2 loss to the Soles de Sonora at Royal Farms Arena on Friday, the Baltimore Blast flew to Mexico needing to win two games on Sunday to defend their league title.

After the Soles scored two unanswered goals to start the third quarter of Game 2, jumping out to a 6-3 lead, it seemed entirely possible the Blast would be swept.

But they kept fighting, as has been the case all season and in these playoffs especially. By about 1:26 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, the Ron Newman Cup was theirs, the team's ninth championship in franchise history. The miraculous turnaround was a lot like this year's Super Bowl, when the New England Patriots somehow dug themselves out of a hole and came back to win in overtime. Only this featured a 15-minute mini game immediately after to crown a winner, as well as some last-minute twists and turns that perfectly sum up the craziness of arena soccer.

Fans that packed the dining area of the Gunpowder Lodge in Kingsville for the official viewing party knew better than to leave when things were looking grim in the third, and they were rewarded with goals by Vini Dantas, Tony Donatelli, and Andrew Hoxie that chipped away at the Soles' lead. Entering the fourth, it was 7-6 Soles, but that didn't last long. Dantas buried one in the back of the net from the corner to even the score several minutes in. The Gunpowder Lodge exploded.

It was a bruising back-and-forth from there, with each team delivering its share of hard fouls, some of which almost erupted into brawls. The field at the Centro de Usos Múltiples in Hermosillo is shorter and narrower than the one at Royal Farms Arena, and the players were bouncing around it like pinballs. Players would hobble off the field, totally gased, and reappear minutes later during another line change. Both teams were battling their asses off.

With just under 25 second left, Christian Segura kicked a dribbler that hit off the wall and trickled toward Franck Tayou, the Soles' biggest star, who rebounded it for an easy goal. 8-7 Soles with 18 seconds left in the game. The air went out of the Gunpowder Lounge. Tayou ripped his jersey off and ran around the field in celebration. He was later shown on screen openly weeping with joy after hugging his brother. After an incredible comeback, it felt like the Soles had finally found a way to seal the deal.

Until they didn't.

Shortly after the kickoff, the Blast launched the ball off the wall near the post. Adriano Dos Santos tried to control it and keep pushing toward the goal, and as he and several Soles defenders fell over in a heap, the ball bounced off Dos Santos' body—possibly, replay later revealed, off his hand—and into the back of the net. The game was again tied, which took all of about seven seconds to happen. The Gunpowder came back to life with cheers and high fives.

Onto golden-goal overtime. This was about 12:39 a.m. in Kingsville. Seven minutes in, goalie William Vanzela lofted a pass toward midfield that riccocheted just so and found Juan Pereira on a break away. Soles goalie Diego Reynoso came out to meet him, and just before he was pushed over, Pereria kicked a bouncer that scooted by. Another ecstatic roar in Kingsville. Some, especially those with kids, had left, but most of the crowd remained.

With the series tied 1-1, the two teams would play a mini game for it all—it's kind of insane way to decide it, but it's also crazy enough to work.

Nearly 10 minutes in, Dantas scored yet again, and the defense shut it down the rest of the way. The game was over at roughly 1:26 a.m. For the second year in a row, the Blast had gone down to Sonora and won in incredibly dramatic fashion. (With morning at work facing the both of us, my buddy and I had driven back to Baltimore for the end of the game. I'm sure whoever was still at the Gunpowder Lodge was ecstatic. The two of us had a celebratory beer.)

Early Saturday morning, following the team's deflating Game One loss at home, Vanzela, one of the team's captains, posted on Facebook, "We know we can do it and we are going to give everything to do it!!!!"

Earlier this afternoon, he was streaming video of his teammates poolside at the hotel in Mexico, celebrating with yet another trophy.