Friday, January 20, 2012

BALTIMORE -- Led by Max Ferdinand's hat trick, the Eastern Division-leading Baltimore Blast defeated the Norfolk SharX 18-2 on Friday night at 1st Mariner Arena. Warren Ukah added a pair of goals as the Blast extended their lead over both the Rochester Lancers and Syracuse Silver Knights to five games while snapping the SharX's two-game winning streak.

Recent Baltimore signing Ricardinho scored his first goal in a Blast uniform to open the scoring and Pat Healey added a first-quarter goal to give the Blast (11-4) a 4-0 lead to start the game.  Matthew Delicate scored the SharX's only goal of the match, late in the quarter, as Norfolk (3-12) cut the Blast's lead to 4-2.

The Blast dominated the second quarter, scoring three goals to jump out to a 10-2 lead at halftime. Ferdinand scored the first goal of the quarter, capitalizing on a free kick as he curled a shot home from Machel Millwood's feed. Millwood then found the back of the net himself with a powerful finish before Ukah scored his first of the night with just over a minute to play in the half.

In a tight third quarter, Ferdinand scored the lone goal for his second of the night to extend the Blast lead to 12-2. Ukah then added his second goal of the game with a beautiful turning volley after Shaun David had mis-hit his initial shot in the fifth minute of the final quarter, to make it 14-2 before Ferdinand completed his hat trick late in the game, roofing his shot to seal the 18-2 victory.

The Blast continue their four-game homestand with another game against the SharX next Friday night at 1st Mariner Arena at 7:35 p.m. Baltimore then hosts the Lancers the following night as the Blast continue their pursuit of the Eastern Division title.

Broadcast Information

Every remaining regular-season Blast game, will be available via live webcast at www.MISLlivesoccer.com.

Upcoming Schedule

January 27 vs. Norfolk SharX
January 28 vs. Rochester Lancers
February 1 vs. Norfolk SharX

Ticket Information

Tickets to all Blast home games are available at www.TicketMaster.com.