Soccer

Matchup: Blast (2-6) vs. Cleveland Force (3-3) Site: Cleveland State Convocation Center Time: 7:05 Radio: WCBM (680 AM) Outlook: The Blast, in the unusual position of having the third-worst record in the Major Indoor Soccer League, will try in Cleveland to begin setting things right. Against the Force, they face a team playing in the second of two consecutive games but one that is excited about the addition of former Major League Soccer all-star Eduardo "El Tanque" Hurtado. "The Tank" has a one-year contract.

The Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League have put together a group of investors "committed to bringing soccer back to Buffalo for the 1992-93 season."The Sabres will be the primary investor in the group, whose goal is to acquire a Major Soccer League indoor team or an American Professional Soccer League outdoor team."We want to give this new franchise every opportunity to succeed on and off the field," said Seymour H. Knox III, chairman of the board and president of the Sabres. "To do that, we think the necessary preparation will take more time than is available between now and October, when the next indoor season starts."

The level of play had lost its edge and the noise in the stands had subsided significantly with 30 minutes of soccer remaining Tuesday, when No. 1 Mount St. Joseph was playing host to No. 4 McDonogh in the highly anticipated rematch of last year's Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference championship game. Credit the visiting Eagles. Still smarting from the championship-game loss and looking only at what was directly in front of them, the McDonogh players were precise and methodical in the minutes that counted the most.

Sagu says he gets the question about his retirement all the time, and he finally has an answer. After this postseason, the Blast's star goalkeeper plans to play one more year before stepping away for good. Just 11 days shy of his 39th birthday, Sagu sounds sure of his decision. Then again, if his first retirement from professional soccer went as planned, he would probably be a police officer in his native Brazil, not the shot-stopping, YouTube-watching leader of a team playing in the MISL's Eastern Division finals starting Saturday.

Teams from two of Europe's top soccer leagues will face off in an exhibition match July 31 at M&T Bank Stadium. Manchester City from the Premier League (English) and Inter Milan from the Serie A League (Italian) will meet weeks after soccer's biggest event, the World Cup, ends July 11 in South Africa. Organizers will hold a news conference Monday at the Ravens' stadium to announce the game. Last summer's friendly between AC Milan and Chelsea at M&T Bank Stadium was held in front of a sold-out crowd of 71,000.

Three Anne Arundel Community College soccer players recently were named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America All-America team.Sandi Young (Andover) of Ferndale and Nikki Beall (Meade) of Laurel were named to the first team while Suzanne Price of Severna Park was named to the second team. All three also were named to the NJCAA National All-Tournament team, along with Megan McElhenny of Davidsonville.Young, a fullback and captain of the team, tallied seven goals and four assists for the year.

When Eric Branham began playing soccer years ago at age 6 with Fred's Friends of the Brooklyn Park Youth Athletic Association, his coach would call his mother the morning of a game to confirm her son's presence.Little did his coach know that nothing could have kept Branham away.While years have elapsed since Branham's introduction to organized soccer, his desire for the sport remains constant."I was brought up with soccer, and I love it," said Branham, 15, who has spent thebulk of his summer as a student and teacher of the game.

The Baltimore Police Department kicked off its spring soccer league yesterday afternoon at a municipal park that was once a haven for drug dealers.More than 500 children packed Frank C. Bocek Park, on East Madison Street at the edge of some of East Baltimore's most dangerous neighborhoods. Provident Bank of Maryland donated $25,000 to pay for referees and uniforms."I came to have fun," said Shatel Veazy, 10, a fifth-grader at Frederick Elementary School. "I have no experience with soccer, but I like to kick things."

There once was a time when Michelle Akers-Stahl would've given up the open shot in favor of a pass."I figured that the other player had a better chance of scoring," she said.Things have changed. Akers-Stahl, an eight-year member of the U.S. national team, says that instruction she received three years ago on how to properly strike the ball helped transform her into one of the top goal-scorers in the world.Tomorrow, Akers-Stahl and her husband, Roby Stahl, a professional coach in Stockholm from whom she learned her shooting technique, bring their act to Columbia as part of the Soccer Association of Columbia's all-day workshop and clinic at Howard Community College.

Even from her sickbed, Denise Leatherman wanted to help plan for this month's "Soccer Against Cancer" campaign. In the spring, too weak to do anything more, she created a logo of a soccer ball inscribed with the slogan, "Play well and do good." The 6,000 young athletes of the Soccer Association of Columbia/Howard County have taken her advice to heart as they take to the fields wearing pink socks, shoelaces, nail polish and hair paint to raise money for breast cancer. Tomorrow and Sunday, they will hold a "Think Pink Weekend" -- an information fair at Covenant Park in Ellicott City.