The Steamers were making their third appearance in the finals but had never won the championship. Known for its disciplined defense, St. Louis shocked the Blast by taking the opening game of the series in Baltimore 7-3 despite being outshot 45-28. The game's turning point came in the final seconds before halftime when, with the score tied 3-3, the Blast gambled and pulled goalie Scott Manning on a power play to gain a six-on-four-man advantage. But the Magician promptly pulled a goat out of his hat by coughing up the ball after an inbounds pass, allowing the Steamers' Jeff Cacciatore to score a short-handed open-net goal that proved to be the winner. Afterward Stamenkovic tearfully explained to his teammates, "My fault we lose. But we lose no more games. I score many points, and we go on to win championship."

The Blast evened the series by taking Game 2 at home 5-3, then swept the Steamers in St. Louis 5-2, and 5-4 in overtime. Goaltender Manning, the playoff MVP, was brilliant in both games, and in the overtime contest—the key game in the series—Stamenkovic put on a show, with an assist and two goals, including the game winner. "He can make a soccer ball do everything but grow legs and walk," one St. Louis fan grumbled.

That set up Friday's clinching victory, which attracted a Civic Center record 12,007 fans despite the fact that the Detroit Tigers were in town to play the Orioles and the Blast game was being televised locally. As the theme from Flash-dance blared over the sound system, the Blast players ran out of a smoking stage carrying long-stemmed roses; the darkened arena sparkled with flecks of light cast from a mirrored ball. Then the players took a victory lap—this was before the game—at the completion of which three deafening explosions shook the Civic Center. Smoke and a burning odor engulfed Baltimore's defensive zone. It was game time.

And it was game over. The Blast took a 3-0 halftime lead and then, when the Steamers scored two goals in 28 seconds, it was left to the Magician to douse the rally. Moments earlier, Stamenkovic had left the floor in the arms of the Baltimore trainer, limping as if he would never play again—indoor soccer has a terrific sense of the theatrical—but now he bore down on two Steamer defenders, faked this way, juked that, then burst between them and fed teammate Mike Stankovic at the right post. Stankovic put the ball away, and the assist gave Stamenkovic—who even at 195 pounds has the physique of the Pillsbury Doughboy—33 points for the playoff's, breaking the record held jointly by Steve Zungul and Julie Veee, the two legends of indoor soccer. Four open-net goals by Joey Fink, who had five for the game, locked away a 10-3 win and the championship.

Rodin was hoisted onto his players' shoulders and carried around the arena to the strains of Auld Lang Syne. Later on he said, "I'm not that good-looking a guy, so I don't really want to say this, but I feel like Robert Redford in The Natural. In my final time at bat I hit a homer. The lights are exploding, the fans are going wild; it's like fantasy city."

The man was having a blast.