Bascome’s Blast blow away Stars & Smith’s Rhode Island Fall
IslandStats.com
David Bascome’s Baltimore Blast concluded their Major Arena Soccer League regular season in emphatic fashion, dismantling the Tacoma Stars 14-8 at the SECU Arena to move to the top of the table.
In a high-octane encounter in the "Charm City," the Blast overcame an early scare to dominate a clinical opening half. Tacoma’s Cale Spence opened the scoring within 30 seconds, but Baltimore responded with a relentless six-goal barrage in the first quarter. Juan Pereira and Jonatas Melo were the architects of the turnaround, each finding the net twice as the Blast asserted their authority on the fast-paced indoor turf.
The momentum continued into the second period, with Oumar Sylla and Chad Poarch extending the lead to 8-3. Despite a spirited third-quarter rally from the Stars—led by Nani Mendoza and Cristian Fernandes—Baltimore’s offensive depth proved too much. Patrick Thompson and Melo combined to keep the visitors at arm's length before late strikes from Marco Nascimento and Adauto Neto completed the 14-goal rout.
While the victory momentarily places the Blast at the top of the MASL standings, the squad now faces a nervous wait. With several divisional rivals set to play their final fixtures tomorrow, the definitive post-season seeding remains up in the air as Bascome’s men aim for a favorable path in the Ron Newman Cup playoffs.
It was a more somber evening for Khano Smith’s Rhode Island FC, who suffered a narrow 2-1 defeat on the road against Miami FC.
In a testing USL Championship clash at Pitbull Stadium, the home side took control in the first half through Arney Rocha’s 22nd-minute strike. The deficit was doubled shortly after the interval when Mathieu Ndongo finished a clinical Miami counter-attack to put the hosts 2-0 up.
Rhode Island found a lifeline in the 65th minute when Dwayne Atkinson pulled one back, sparking a frantic final period. However, the visitors' hopes of a comeback were effectively ended in the 80th minute when Hugo Bacharach was shown a straight red card. Despite a late push with ten men, Smith’s side were unable to find an equalizer, leaving them to reflect on a missed opportunity to climb the Eastern Conference standings.
