La Raza

Tonight's Blast game Blast (5-3) at Monterrey La RaZa (4-5) Time: 6:05 Video: laraza.com.mx/live-video.html Outlook: The Blast, which shares first place in the Major Indoor Soccer League with the Milwaukee Wave, has won both meetings with Monterrey this season - including a 13-4 home victory Jan. 8. Veteran F Giuliano Celenza scored three goals and added two assists in the win, and the Blast defense was...

As tough as it was for the Blast to finish scoring chances in Friday night's first half against visiting Monterrey La RaZa, it proved an easy chore in the opening minutes of the pivotal third quarter. Determined and goal-hungry, the Blast put seven points on the scoreboard in the first five minutes to turn a tight game into an 13-4 win against overmatched La RaZa before an announced 4,208 at 1st Mariner Arena. Leading 4-2 at the break, the Blast got goals 17 seconds apart from Max Ferdinand and Giuliano Celenza two minutes into the third quarter, and Denison Cabral added a 3-pointer on the power play minutes later for an 11-2 lead.

As tough as it was for the Blast to finish scoring chances in Friday night's first half against visiting Monterrey La RaZa, it proved an easy chore in the opening minutes of the pivotal third quarter. Determined and goal-hungry, the Blast put seven points on the scoreboard in the first five minutes to turn a tight game into an 11-4 win against overmatched La RaZa before an announced 4,208 at 1st Mariner Arena. Leading 4-2 at the break, the Blast got goals 17 seconds apart from Max Ferdinand and Giuliano Celenza two minutes into the third quarter, and Denison Cabral added a 3-pointer on the power play minutes later for an 11-2 lead.

Lucio Gonzaga had his second hat trick of the season and the Blast defeated Monterrey La RaZa, 14-13, in a game of momentum shifts Sunday to improve to 2-1. Gonzaga had three goals and an assist. Gonzaga, the Major Indoor Soccer League Offensive Player of the Month for November, scored at the 3:28 mark and again at 4:09 to cut La RaZa's lead to 3-2 and then to give the Blast a 4-3 advantage. Captain Robbie Aristodemo scored his first goal of the season at 11:12 to extend the Blast's lead to 6-3. The visitors scored the first two goals of the second quarter, with Gonzaga recording his third goal of the game and Machel Millwood extending the Blast's lead to 10-3.

The Blast's first road game of the season - Sunday at Monterrey - has been changed to 1 p.m. Eastern time after being originally set for 6 p.m. The game can be seen live on the Internet at laraza.com.mx/live-video.html. The Blast takes a 1-1 mark into the game. - Glenn Graham Indoor football: The Baltimore Mariners of the American Indoor Football Association added three rookies to their training camp roster, including two former Maryland high school stars. Joining the team were wide receiver Delannie Spriggs Jr. (Northern)

Matchup: Blast (14-3) at Monterrey La RaZa (9-8) Site: Monterrey (Mexico) Arena Time: 9:45 p.m. Radio: 680 AM Outlook: This is a meaningless regular-season finale for the Blast, which has clinched first place, but it means everything to Monterrey, which is battling two teams for two playoff spots. La RaZa needs to win to remain in the playoff picture after the Philadelphia KiXX and Rockford Rampage finished 10-8, the latter doing so with a 13-10 victory over the Massachussetts Twisters on Saturday.

It was a night for taking it easy on some of the Blast's most notable veterans. Missing from the lineup were All-League goalkeeper Sagu, who was celebrating his 36th birthday, and the franchise's all-time leading scorer, Denison Cabral, 35. But the absences didn't have any effect on the outcome as the Blast closed its regular-season home schedule with a 20-9 victory over the National Indoor Soccer League's worst team, the Massachusetts Twisters....

When he came to the United States from Brazil, critics said Denison Cabral would never make it in indoor soccer. He was too small and would be pushed around, there was a language barrier, he had precious little knowledge of the game and he would be a liability on defense, they maintained. Blast president-general manager Kevin Healey, who had coached him outdoors with the Baltimore Bays, was not among the naysayers. "I remember telling Ed [Hale, Blast owner] that not only is he going to make it, he's going to be a star for us," Healey said.

MONTERREY, Mexico - After a fourth quarter in which the Blast and Monterrey La RaZa traded goals and the lead, rookie Pat Healey finally gave the Blast an 18-16 overtime victory last night at Monterrey Arena. Healey scored the game-winner for the first-place Blast at the 4:25 mark of overtime. The Blast's PJ Wakefield (UMBC) sent the game into an extra period when he scored with 24 seconds left in regulation. The Blast had a 10-4 lead at halftime, but La RaZa scored three times in the third period to tie it at 10. The teams traded goals in the final quarter, with Monterrey taking a 16-14 lead in the eighth minute before Wakefield tied the game.