Indoor Soccer League

Outdoor Moderate hike: Sierra Club Howard County Group will sponsor a moderate, seven-mile hike along the Little Gunpowder to Jerusalem Mill. Participants will meet at 10 a.m. Saturday at the White Marsh Park & Ride, and should bring lunch and water. Admission is free. Liability waivers must be signed. 410-248- 2974, before 9:30 p.m. Soccer Classes, leagues: Soccer Dome, 7330 Montevideo Road, Jessup, is accepting registration for fall soccer classes and for leagues that are to begin play this month.

Todd Haskins, a high school soccer standout during the late 1980s who most recently has been playing pro beach soccer, is the first signee of the new Maryland Mania, which begins A-League play in April.The signing of Haskins, 26, who grew up in Columbia, to a one-year deal for undisclosed terms was announced last night.He seems likely to be a midfielder for the Columbia-based entry in pro soccer's top minor league.The Mania, negotiating with others as well, is expected to sign as many as eight or nine players with Maryland ties.

A week ago, Denison Cabral's only goal was to get through the Blast opener in Detroit without any complications. This week, he aspires to do more than that. After nearly 11 months without a formal game following his second major knee surgery, the team's all-time leading point scorer hopes to have more of an impact when the Blast begins its home schedule tonight at 1st Mariner Arena against the Chicago Storm. "I'm excited," said Cabral, who started playing professional soccer in his native Brazil at the age of 15. "The last two seasons, I've only really played any real time in 12 games.

Despite the dissolution of the Major Indoor Soccer League this past weekend, Blast officials yesterday expressed confidence that professional indoor soccer will be played in Baltimore next season under a restructured format. While portraying the shutdown as a procedural move, Blast owner Ed Hale said, "We're going to play next year with the number of teams and number of games to be determined. This is to streamline the league. We just closed the door on the corporation and we're opening another door.

The Major Indoor Soccer League will announce today that the San Diego Sockers and Monterrey (Mexico) Fury are out of business, sources close to the league said yesterday. The MISL will continue operating with seven teams. The league also will set a dispersal draft for San Diego and Monterrey players by Wednesday and answer questions about rescheduling and playoff formulas. MISL commissioner Steve Ryan did not return a phone call to his office yesterday, and the league's director of communications, Jaye Cavallo, said the league would have nothing definitive to say until today.

When defender Iain Fraser signed with the Blast three weeks ago - packing his bags in Sacramento, Calif., meeting his new teammates in Kansas City one night and playing there the next - he was well aware of the situation. The Blast's season, well past the midway point, had been filled with inconsistency, injuries and more close losses than wins. Since then? Just one win, five losses, a couple of more injuries and a brawl that resulted in the suspension of three teammates. All that has left the Blast 14-19 and still locked into the fourth and final playoff spot in the Major Indoor Soccer League.

If anything positive emerged from the rash of injuries that struck the Blast earlier this season, it was the time accorded the team's younger players on the field. As a crucial stretch begins, the experience they gained will be invaluable with the defending Major Indoor Soccer League champion striving to put together a streak that will carry it into the playoff picture. And now that the roster is refilling, look for the youth movement to be just as conspicuous because the players merit the time.

At 6:30 a.m. yesterday, a group of professional soccer players began convening at Druid Hill Park for a 4.6-mile run through the frosty air. So began the Blast's quest to bring another title to Baltimore - this time in the newly formed National Indoor Soccer League - and the follow-up for the week will be two-a-day practice sessions to prepare the team for the regular season beginning Nov. 15. "This is double-duty, hell week," said defender P.J. Wakefield...

The Blast won its fifth pro indoor soccer championship in seven years Saturday night, fending off the Rockford Rampage, 13-10, before a vociferous announced crowd of 9,857 at 1st Mariner Arena. Red and white confetti flooded the arena after goalkeeper Sagu clutched the ball as time expired in the first National Indoor Soccer League title game. Baltimore's league-leading defense turned away the six-attacker formation used by the Rampage over the final two minutes to conclude its home season with a 9-1 record and lift the big trophy for the second straight season.

Blast newcomer Sean Bowers has been the perfect fit in Baltimore except for one small matter, and that too will change once he gets his house sold in Detroit. Temporarily living in a two-bedroom apartment here with his wife, Maria, and their three small children certainly hasn't hampered the outstanding two-way play he has provided his new team this season. Just 10 games in, the longtime Detroit Rocker has shown the versatility to play two positions at one high, composed level, the durability to regularly finish chances at one end and block shots at the other, and the desire to make a difference.