2016–17 Baltimore Blast season

The 2016–17 Baltimore Blast season is the twenty-fifth season of the Baltimore Blast professional indoor soccer club. The Blast, an Eastern Division team in the Major Arena Soccer League, play their home games at Royal Farms Arena in downtown Baltimore, Maryland.[3][4]

Baltimore Blast
2016–17 MASL season
OwnerEdwin F. Hale, Sr.[1]
Head CoachDanny Kelly
ArenaRoyal Farms Arena
201 West Baltimore Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21201
Major Arena Soccer League1st, Eastern (regular season)
Ron Newman CupMASL Champion
Top goalscorerTony Donatelli (18 goals, 19 assists)
Highest home attendance9,722 (February 4 vs. Milwaukee Wave)
Lowest home attendance4,121 (November 18 vs. Florida Tropics SC)
Average home league attendance6,299 (10 games)[2]

The team is led by owner Edwin F. Hale, Sr. and head coach Danny Kelly. The Blast entered the season as defending champions as they defeated the Sonora Suns in the Ron Newman Cup finals in April 2016. Following an 8-4 victory on February 17 over the Syracuse Silver Knights, Baltimore clinched a playoff berth in the Eastern Division for the 2017 Ron Newman Cup playoffs.[5] The Blast then clinched the regular-season Eastern Division championship after a 5-4 overtime win in Syracuse on February 24.[6]

The Blast finished the regular season 14-6 and defeated Harrisburg, Milwaukee and Sonora in the postseason, successfully defending their title en route to the team's ninth championship (including one won by the original Blast franchise). Vini Dantas received the MASL Finals MVP.

History

Launched in July 1992 as the Baltimore Spirit, an expansion team in the second National Professional Soccer League for the 1992–93 season, the team replaced the original Baltimore Blast which folded earlier in 1992 when the first Major Indoor Soccer League shut down.[7] Ed Hale, an owner of the original Blast, bought the Spirit in July 1998 and changed the name to Baltimore Blast.[8] In 2001, the team was a founding member of the second MISL. When that league shut down in 2008, they co-founded the National Indoor Soccer League which, one season later, became the third MISL.

After the 2013-14 season, Baltimore was one of three teams that left the MISL, leading to the league's collapse.[9] Along with five other former MISL teams, the Blast joined the teams of the Professional Arena Soccer League, which was then rebranded as the Major Arena Soccer League.[10][11] With the Waza Flo folding and the launch of the Florida Tropics SC, the MASL Eastern Division for the 2016-17 season consists of the defending MASL Ron Newman Cup Champion Baltimore Blast, former MISL club Syracuse Silver Knights, former PASL club Harrisburg Heat, and the expansion Tropics.[12]

Off-field moves

In the offseason, the Baltimore Blast, Harrisburg Heat, and St. Louis Ambush left the MASL, and joined the expansion Florida Tropics SC to form the Indoor Professional League.[13] The Blast, Heat and Ambush re-joined the MASL in August 2016, with the Tropics being considered an expansion franchise for the MASL.[14]

Schedule

  Win   Loss [15] [16]

Regular season
Game Day Date Kickoff Opponent Results Location Attendance
Score Record
1 Saturday November 5 7:05 pm Harrisburg Heat W 11–6 1–0 Farm Show Large Arena 1,627
2 Friday November 11 7:35 pm Milwaukee Wave L 3–4 1–1 Royal Farms Arena 7,813
3 Friday November 18 7:35 pm Florida Tropics W 7–1 2–1 Royal Farms Arena 4,121
4 Saturday December 3 7:05 pm Florida Tropics W 5–1 3–1 Lakeland Center 2,134
5 Saturday December 10 7:35 pm Florida Tropics W 7–0 4–1 Royal Farms Arena 7,450
6 Sunday December 11 5:05 pm Kansas City Comets L 1–5 4–2 Silverstein Eye Centers Arena 3,118
7 Saturday December 17 7:05 pm Dallas Sidekicks W 8–4 5–2 Allen Event Center 1,661
8 Thursday December 29 7:00 pm Syracuse Silver Knights W 6–3 6–2 Oncenter War Memorial Arena 2,032
9 Friday December 30 7:35 pm Harrisburg Heat L 4–7 6–3 Farm Show Large Arena 1,675
10 Saturday January 7 7:05 pm Dallas Sidekicks W 7–2 7–3 Royal Farms Arena 7,230
11 Saturday January 14 7:05 pm Harrisburg Heat W 5–2 8–3 Royal Farms Arena 5,102
12 Friday January 20 7:05 pm Cedar Rapids Rampage L 3–5 8–4 U.S. Cellular Center 1,871
13 Saturday January 21 6:05 pm Milwaukee Wave L 2–7 8–5 UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena 3,171
14 Sunday January 29 4:05 pm St. Louis Ambush W 10–1 9–5 Royal Farms Arena 4,751
15 Saturday February 4 7:05 pm Milwaukee Wave W 5–2 10–5 Royal Farms Arena 9,722
16 Friday February 17 7:35 pm Syracuse Silver Knights W 8–4 11–5 Royal Farms Arena 6,131
17 Sunday February 19 4:05 pm Syracuse Silver Knights L 2–7 11–6 Royal Farms Arena 4,524
18 Friday February 24 7:30 pm Syracuse Silver Knights W 5–4 (OT) 12-6 Oncenter War Memorial Arena 2,949
19 Sunday February 26 3:05 pm St. Louis Ambush W 3–1 13-6 Family Arena 3,378
20 Sunday March 5 4:05 pm Harrisburg Heat W 11–3 14-6 Royal Farms Arena 6,152

Post-season
Game Day Date Kickoff Opponent Results Location Attendance
Score Record
Division Final #1 Saturday March 11 7:05 p.m. Harrisburg Heat L 4–5 0-1 Royal Farms Arena 4,214
Division Final #2 Wednesday March 15 7:35 p.m. Harrisburg Heat W 7–4 1-1 Farm Show Large Arena 1,142
Division Final #3 Wednesday March 15 9:35 p.m. Harrisburg Heat W 4–1 2-1 Farm Show Large Arena 1,142
Conference Final #1 Saturday March 18 7:05 p.m. Milwaukee Wave W 8–7 (OT) 3-1 Royal Farms Arena 3,235
Conference Final #2 Tuesday March 21 6:35 p.m. Milwaukee Wave L 4–8 3-2 UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena 2,218
Conference Final #3 Tuesday March 21 8:35 p.m. Milwaukee Wave W 2–1 4-2 UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena 2,218
Ron Newman Cup Final #1 Friday April 7 8:05 pm Soles de Sonora L 2–4 4-3 Royal Farms Arena 6,701
Ron Newman Cup Final #2 Sunday April 9 9:05 pm Soles de Sonora W 9–8 (OT) 5-3 El Centro de Usos Múltiples 8,000
Ron Newman Cup Final #3 Monday April 10 12:05 am Soles de Sonora W 1–0 6-3 El Centro de Usos Múltiples 8,000

Personnel

Team roster
  • As of January 13, 2017[17]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
0 GK  ITA William Vanzela
1 GK  USA Chris Fenner
4 FW  USA Andrew Hoxie
6 DF  USA Josh Hughes
8 FW  BRA Lucas Roque
9 DF  USA Pat Healey
11 FW  USA Tony Donatelli
12 DF  BRA Adriano Dos Santos
13 DF  USA Jereme Raley
17 DF  USA Jamie Thomas
No. Pos. Nation Player
18 MF  USA Travis Pittman
21 FW  ITA Daniel Peruzzi
22 MF  BRA Juan Pereira
23 MF  BRA Jonatas Melo
24 FW  FRA Sofiane Tergou
26 DF  BRA Elton de Oliveria
28 FW  BRA Vini Dantas
32 DF  USA Jordan Becker
78 DF  USA Nelson Santana
80 MF  USA Geaton Caltabiano

Staff

The team's coaching staff includes head coach Danny Kelly, assistant coach David Bascome, athletic trainer Heather Kohlbus, physical therapist Paul Ernst, team doctor Dr. Richard Levine, and equipment manager Mark Meszaros. The Blast front office includes owner Edwin F. Hale, Sr., team president and general manager Kevin Healey, assistant general manager Mike Conway, and marketing coordinator Stephen Cooke.[18]

Statistics

Top scorers
Rank Scorer Games Goals Assists Points
1 Tony Donatelli 20 19 23 42
2 Vini Dantas 18 20 11 31
3 Andrew Hoxie 19 17 6 23
4 Jonatas Melo 20 11 8 19
5 Lucas Roque 11 6 7 13

Last updated on March 5, 2017. Source: [19]

References
  14. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-10-17. Retrieved 2017-02-23.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  17. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-09-15. Retrieved 2017-02-23.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  18. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-01-27. Retrieved 2017-02-23.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.