Lazers Stun Blast, 4-3, Gain Playoff Spot

The Baltimore Blast came to the Forum Tuesday night intent on fattening its Major Indoor Soccer League record at the expense of the Lazers.

So much for that idea.

The defending MISL champions were upset, 4-3, by a Lazer team that was not the least bit impressed by the Blast’s 29-11 record or the fact that it has won 24 of its last 30 and 60 of its last 76 games.

Spurred on by a crowd of 3,958, the Lazers played with a determination born of need. They needed to win in order to clinch a wild-card playoff berth, and win they did, improving their record to 22-19.

The victory, which came on a goal by Willie Molano with 1:06 to play, puts the Lazers in the playoffs for the second year in a row.

They remain in third place in the Western Division and can be seeded straight into the playoff quarterfinals if they maintain that position.

The Lazers led, 2-1, after three quarters, then allowed Baltimore to take a 3-2 lead in the final quarter before coming back to win.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve won two in a row,” Lazer Coach Peter Wall said. “We’re starting to come back to the form we had earlier in the season. The intensity is there again.”

The loss dropped the Blast to 29-12, still good enough for a four-game lead over the second-place Chicago Sting in the Eastern Division.

The key to the Lazer victory was the play of former UCLA goalkeeper Tim Harris, who started for the second game in a row, defender Lee Cornwell, who was all over the field, constantly harassing the Blast forwards, and Brazilian forward Batata, just regaining the form he showed last season.

“He starting to come alive,” Wall said of Batata, whose pass to Molano on a two-on-one breakaway led to the winning goal.

The Blast took a 1-0 lead 6:26 into the game on Paul Kitson’s 33rd goal of the season, but the Lazers tied it just 40 seconds later when Stuart Lee beat Blast goalie Jim May after Lazer midfielder Greg Ion had battled his way through the Baltimore defense.

The second period was scoreless, but the third was one of the best seen at the Forum this season as both teams applied intense pressure.

May was kept constantly busy in the Blast nets, fielding shots from all angles. At the other end, Harris made two excellent saves on back-to-back shots, first diving to his left to palm away the ball, then flinging himself to his right to parry the rebound.

Finally, with 1:06 left in the third quarter, Batata headed home a goal off a pass from Cacho, and the Lazers led, 2-1.

Baltimore answered with goals by Max Thompson 1:04 into the fourth to tie it and another by Kitson less than two minutes later to take the lead.

With 7:21 to go in the game, Poli Garcia fired in the 100th goal of his MISL career and his 20th of the season to again tie the score, setting up Molano’s winner.