Veteran forward Lee Tschantret was brought in to do a little of everything for the Blast this season, most notably score.
He did that last night at the perfect time.
Tschantret's two-point goal with 30 seconds left proved to be the final say against a pesky Kansas City Attack team, rescuing the Blast's home opener, 21-20, in front of 8,103 at the Baltimore Arena.
The Blast would have preferred to complete the gem that appeared in the works with its strong second quarter last night.
Instead, an up-and-down effort that's often typical with first games more than sufficed as the Blast overcame costly penalties and the scrappy Attack, which took a 20-19 lead on a goal from Clovis Simas just 18 seconds before Tschantret's heroics.
Tschantret pounced on a header in front, his second two-pointer in his Blast debut, getting the ball just past Kansas City keeper Warren Westcoat and just underneath the crossbar.
"It was pretty exciting - a weird, hectic first game. It seemed like slow motion when it was going in," said Tschantret, who put up 123 points with the Detroit Rockers last season. "It's just great to come to a city like Baltimore with all its tradition and great fans. They've got to love this."
The Blast got a dominating performance from Denison Cabral, who finished with 10 points and two assists; a strong game from keeper Scott Hileman, and a surprise hero, rookie goalkeeper Josh Campbell.
When Hileman, who turned back three of Kansas City's four shootout attempts and finished with 16 saves in all, got a five-minute misconduct penalty at the start of the fourth quarter, Campbell surrendered three points in a five-minute stretch but no more.
Cabral's consecutive one-point shootout goals gave the Blast a 19-18 lead with under five minutes to play, but Simas gave the Attack what appeared to be the winning two-pointer in the final minute before Tschantret stepped up.
"That's almost storybook with Lee," said Blast coach Kevin Healey. "I was telling the media, the fans in Baltimore would love Lee five or 10 games in - you can change that to one."
Cabral's impressive showing, expected more and more with each game in his career, also didn't go unnoticed.
"One thing we learned the last couple of seasons is you can't stop until the game is over," said Cabral. "The whole team deserves this win, and that's all that counts. We won, no matter whether Denison scored, or someone else."
Said Healey: "The kid just scores, and from every angle. He just gets better and better every time out. We found a way to win, and it certainly was a roller-coaster ride."
The Blast got out of a jittery first quarter tied at 2, and then after assuming control in the early stages of the second quarter, self-destructed with careless penalties in the latter part.
Cabral celebrated his recent three-year contract extension with the Blast's first five points of the season. Tarik Walker then scored his 100th career goal for the Blast before Tschantret lofted a three-pointer over Kansas City's drawn out keeper Warren Westcoat for a 10-4 lead with under five minutes left in the half.
But then, hampered by two penalties, the Blast saw Kansas City score the next eight points and take a 12-10 lead into halftime.
NOTES: The Blast went 16-6 at home last season, including a 34-15 win over the Attack on Feb. 20. In that game, the Blast set season standards in most points scored in a quarter - 19 in the fourth, most points scored in a game and largest margin of victory. ... The Blast will host the Detroit Rockers next Saturday at the Baltimore Arena.
