Buffalo Blizzard

Opponent: Buffalo BlizzardSite: Marine Midland Arena, Buffalo, N.Y.Time: 7: 35Radio: WCBM (680 AM)Outlook: The North Division- leading Blizzard (3-1) is coming off a 20-6 victory over Detroit heading into a home-and-home weekend set with the Spirit. Top scorer Doug Miller (114 points) is back, but missing from last year's 21-19 Buffalo team is Gino DiFlorio, now playing for Cincinnati. The Spirit is 0-3 on the road.Pub Date: 11/21/97

The newly formed Major Indoor Soccer League will conduct a draft via conference call this afternoon to distribute players from former National Professional Soccer League teams that will not be competing in the new league this season. Two former NPSL teams - the Wichita Wings and Buffalo Blizzard - ceased operations. Franchises in Detroit and Toronto are MISL members but will not compete until the 2002-03 season. The six teams competing this season - the Blast, Cleveland, Harrisburg, Kansas City, Milwaukee and Philadelphia - will take part in today's draft that could involve up to 80 players.

Opponent: Buffalo BlizzardSite: Baltimore ArenaTime: 3: 05 p.m.Radio: WJFK (1300 AM)Outlook: The Blizzard is coming off a pair of losses to North Division rival Edmonton on the road, but has split its past 10 games and is rested. Doug Miller of Buffalo is the league's second-leading scorer (130 points) and leads in total goals with 61. He had a nine-point game in Thursday's loss to Edmonton. Today is the last Blast home game for nearly a month. The team goes on the road for five games as the circus comes to the Arena.

BUFFALO, N.Y. - There were few thrills and chills and, at times, it was downright dull - defensive battles often are. But, it's still better to win games than lose them, so the Blast couldn't be unhappy with last night's 9-8 victory over the Buffalo Blizzard in the opener of the teams' best-of-three American Conference semifinal series. The second game will be Friday night at Baltimore Arena. In taking away the home-floor advantage, the Blast did what it hadn't done well during the regular season, namely find a way to beat the Blizzard.

Opponent: Buffalo BlizzardSite: Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo, N.Y.Time: 1:05 p.m.Radio: WWLG (1360 AM), WASA (1330 AM)Outlook: This is the third of three games in three days for the Spirit. Baltimore has a 2-1 edge in its rivalry with the Blizzard this season. The Blizzard and Spirit are running two-three in the NPSL American Division. Buffalo drew a team-record 13,354 to its 10:35 a.m. game last week, scheduled to accommodate school children on field trips. Gino DiFlorio leads Buffalo with 99 points.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The rally fell short.Despite a fourth-quarter hat trick by forward Michael Henning, the Spirit fell to the Buffalo Blizzard, 11-6, last night in a National Professional League Soccer game.The 8,817 fans on hand at the Marine Midland Arena watched the Spirit make its way back from an 8-0, fourth-quarter deficit to pull within a goal on three unanswered, sixth-attacker goals by Henning.Henning, a Towson High graduate, set up camp in front of the Buffalo net and knocked in three rebounds past Blizzard goalie Billy Andracki, only to watch Buffalo forward Rudy Pikuzinski ice the game with an empty-net three-pointer with just 50 seconds remaining in the game.

BaseballOrioles: Signed P Keith Shepherd and IF Clay Bellinger to minor-league contracts.Padres: Re-signed P Willie Blair to a one-year contract.Yankees: Re-signed 2B Pat Kelly to a two-year contract.BasketballHeat: Waived C-F LeRon Ellis.Mavericks: Placed G Lucious Harris on the injured list.CollegeDuke: Declared basketball player Tony Moore academically ineligible.Ohio State: Sent S Damon Moore home from the Florida Citrus Bowl for a violation of team rules.FootballBengals: Re-signed offensive coordinator Bruce Coslet, defensive coordinator Larry Peccatiello, offensive line coach Paul Alexander, running backs coach Jim Anderson, quarterbacks coach Ken Anderson, receivers coach and offensive assistant John Garrett, defensive backs coach Ron Meeks, linebackers coach Joe Pascale, defensive assistant Bobby DePaul, line coach Tim Krumrie, special teams coach Joe Wessel and strength coach Kim Wood.

BaseballOrioles: Signed OF Joe Hall to minor-league contract.New York Yankees: Named Jim Essian manager of Double-A Norwich; Ricky Patterson manager at Single-A Greensboro; and Richard Tomlin pitching coach at Norwich.Chicago White Sox: Fired hitting coach Walt Hriniak.CollegeECAC: Named Navy QB Ben Fay and DE Andy Person to Division I-A All-East football honor roll.California-Davis: Promoted Bob Biggs from interim to full-time football coach.Central Connecticut State: Dismissed Zayid Shamsud-Deen from men's basketball team for violating team policy.

BaseballArizona Diamondbacks: Named former Orioles GM Roland Hemond senior executive vice president of baseball operations.Boston Red Sox: Assigned the contracts of IF Chris Donnels, OF Tuffy Rhodes and P Luis Aquino to the Kintetsu Buffaloes of Japan's Pacific League for cash.Detroit Tigers: Fired Joe Klein, general manager.Montreal Expos: Named Jim Beattie general manager.San Francisco Giants: Reached agreement with 1B Mark Carreon and C Tom Lampkin on one-year contracts.BasketballNBA: Announced that Miami Heat C Matt Geiger has been suspended one game and fined $10,000 for a flagrant hit of Orlando C Shaquille O'Neal in Tuesday's exhibition game.

The Spirit will be well-represented at the National Professional Soccer League's eighth All-Star Game on Feb. 19 in Buffalo, N.Y.In addition to coach Dave MacWilliams, who will direct the American Division squad, defender Tim Wittman has been named a starter and forward Kevin Sloan a reserve. Coaches and players selected the teams.Other starters are Hector Marinaro, Zoran Karic and goalie Otto Orf, all of the defending NPSL champion Cleveland Crunch, Richard Chinapoo of the Harrisburg Heat and Paul Dougherty of the Buffalo Blizzard.

American Conference No. 3 Blast (22-18) at No. 2 Buffalo Blizzard (22-18) Tonight: Opener of best-of-three series, 7:35. Regular-season series: Blizzard won, 5-2 Outlook: After spending the first half of the season in the conference basement, the Blizzard moved boldly into second with a 15-5 streak. Strong play against Baltimore helped. Buffalo won its last four games against the Blast, three at HSBC Arena. This marked the first time Buffalo won the season series since the franchises joined the NPSL in 1992-93.

The Blast always had known what to expect when going up against the Buffalo Blizzard: a tough battle, but - more times than not - a positive result in the end. That abruptly changed in the 2001 portion of this season's schedule. With some slow starts and other poor stretches, the Blast lost its last four meetings to the Blizzard, as well as the season series, 5-2, for the first time in franchise history, dating to the 1992-93 season. With the opening round of the National Professional Soccer League playoffs starting tonight in Buffalo, the Blizzard certainly has the Blast's full attention for the best-of-three series.

The Baltimore Blast landed Jeff Clarke, a promising young defender, after the Edmonton Drillers' fire sale on Monday. With the 10th and final pick of the first round in a re-entry draft, Baltimore selected the 23-year-old Clarke, the captain of the Canadian Olympic team, playing in his first professional indoor season. The Drillers ceased operations last week, prompting the three-round draft in which 16 players were taken by the 10 remaining active teams in the National Professional Soccer League.

It is about that time in the season when the Blast can expect to see everybody's best. Teams such as the Buffalo Blizzard, which the Blast faces at 2: 05 p.m. today, are fighting for playoff spots and cannot afford too many more losses, especially at home. "Buffalo needs to go into a very good stretch," said Blast coach Kevin Healey, whose team arrived in Buffalo yesterday. "Certainly, all the home games for them will be very critical. We just need to do what we do best on the road." And that, according to Healey, is to take control of the game early by putting up some quick points and finishing strong.

Opponent: Buffalo BlizzardSite: Baltimore ArenaTime: 3: 05 p.m.Radio: WJFK (1300 AM)Outlook: The Blizzard is coming off a pair of losses to North Division rival Edmonton on the road, but has split its past 10 games and is rested. Doug Miller of Buffalo is the league's second-leading scorer (130 points) and leads in total goals with 61. He had a nine-point game in Thursday's loss to Edmonton. Today is the last Blast home game for nearly a month. The team goes on the road for five games as the circus comes to the Arena.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The rally fell short.Despite a fourth-quarter hat trick by forward Michael Henning, the Spirit fell to the Buffalo Blizzard, 11-6, last night in a National Professional League Soccer game.The 8,817 fans on hand at the Marine Midland Arena watched the Spirit make its way back from an 8-0, fourth-quarter deficit to pull within a goal on three unanswered, sixth-attacker goals by Henning.Henning, a Towson High graduate, set up camp in front of the Buffalo net and knocked in three rebounds past Blizzard goalie Billy Andracki, only to watch Buffalo forward Rudy Pikuzinski ice the game with an empty-net three-pointer with just 50 seconds remaining in the game.

Opponent: Buffalo BlizzardSite: Marine Midland Arena, Buffalo, N.Y.Time: 7: 35Radio: WCBM (680 AM)Outlook: The North Division- leading Blizzard (3-1) is coming off a 20-6 victory over Detroit heading into a home-and-home weekend set with the Spirit. Top scorer Doug Miller (114 points) is back, but missing from last year's 21-19 Buffalo team is Gino DiFlorio, now playing for Cincinnati. The Spirit is 0-3 on the road.Pub Date: 11/21/97

Opponent: Buffalo BlizzardSite: Marine Midland Arena, Buffalo, N.Y.Time: 1: 05 p.m. Radio: WWLG (1360 AM), WASA (1330 AM)Outlook: The Spirit will play four of its final five games on the road, where its record is 6-10. Buffalo, which has the third-best attendance (7,613) in the NPSL, is 12-4 at home. The Blizzard is battling the Detroit Rockers for the North Division title and a first-round bye in the playoffs. In their only other meeting this season, Buffalo beat the Spirit, 14-12. Jim McCombs will start in goal for the Spirit.