The Blast were led by MASL Finals MVP Lucas Roque, who recorded 4 goals and added an assist. Roque led the Blast in postseason goals with 9 including 5 in the Championship Series.
Lucas Roque, who plays in the Major Arena Soccer League for the Baltimore Blast during the winter months, was named the Most Valuable Player in the MASL Championship Series where he led the Blast to their 7th title.
The Blast traveled to Sonora on Friday night for game 2 of the MASL Championship series. The battle between two great teams went back and forth all night but in the end the Blast were able to win in overtime and claim the MASL Championship.
Sonora would take an early lead with the first two goals of the game. Alejandro Leyva and Erick Rosas recorded back to back goals to give Sonora a 2-0 lead. Before the end of the quarter the Blast would get on the board when Lucas Roque assisted Onua Obasi on his second postseason goal. At the end of the first the Blast trailed 2-1.
Both teams when back and forth exchanging goals in the second quarter. Jonatas Melo tied the game at 2 off a goal assisted by Sofiane Tergou. At the 4:30 mark league MVP, Franck Tayou, found the back of the net for Sonora. Sofiane Tergou would answer for the Blast at the 5:26 mark with a goal assisted by Kaoru Forbess. Later in the quarter, Enrique Canez put Sonora up 4-3 but that lead would not last long as one minute later Lucas Roque recorded his team leading sixth postseason goal off of Pat Healey’s fifth postseason assist. At the half the game was tied at 4.
Both teams came out aggressive in the second half as the back and forth battle continued with eight goals scored in the third quarter. Andrew Hoxie would give the Blast the lead at the 3:05 mark with his second playoff goal. At the 3:20 mark Alejandro Leyva recorded a goal to tie it at 5 and then Damien Garcia gave Sonora the lead. At the 5:46 mark Leyva would complete the hat trick with his third goal of the game putting Sonora up 7-5. Kaoru Forbess would answer for the Blast with his second postseason goal at the 7:05 mark. Sonora would answer when Christian Segura found the back of the net of an assist from Jose Campoy. Before the end of the quarter the Blast would get right back into the game with back to back goals. Lucas Roque recorded his second goal of the game of an assist from Jeremy Ortiz and the Jonatas Melo recorded his second goal of the game as well at the 11:39 mark. The game entered the final quarter tied at 8.
The fast paced scoring would continue in the final quarter as ten goals were recorded. Lucas Roque completed his hat trick at the 1:01 mark of the quarter to give the Blast a 9-8 lead. Erick Rosas tied the game for Sonora at the 3:04 mark but only :02 seconds later Andrew Hoxie gave the Blast the lead right back. Tony Donatelli would extend that lead with his third postseason goal. Sonora would not go down without a fight, recording three straight goals. Franck Tayou recorded back to back goals for a hat trick on the night before Enrique Canez gave Sonora a 12-11 lead. Sofianne Tergou recorded his second goal of the night at at 10:31 mark and then Lucas Roque drilled home his fourth goal of the night to give the Blast a 13-12 lead. In the final minute of regulation Damian Garcia hit a shot that found the back of the net for Sonora. With the championship on the line the game went into overtime tied at 13.
It took only :28 seconds into the overtime for Tony Donatelli to score the goal that would crown the Baltimore Blast 2016 MASL Champions.
The Blast were led by MASL Finals MVP Lucas Roque, who recorded 4 goals and added an assist. Roque led the Blast in postseason goals with 9 including 5 in the Championship Series.
Leave a Reply