Baltimore Blast

This article is about the team formed in 1992 as the Baltimore Spirit. For the original team, see Baltimore Blast (1980–1992).

The Baltimore Blast is an American professional indoor soccer team based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The team is a part of the Major Arena Soccer League.^[3]

Baltimore Blast

Full name	Baltimore Blast
Nickname(s)	Blast
Founded	1992 (as Baltimore Spirit)
Stadium	SECU Arena^[1]
Capacity	3,580
Chairman	Edwin F. Hale, Sr.^[2]
Coach	David Bascome
League	Major Arena Soccer League
2022–23	2nd, Eastern Division Playoffs: Ron Newman Cup Runner-up
Website	Club website
Home colors Away colors

Including one championship victory as the original Baltimore Blast, the team has won 10 championships since its founding in 1980. Beginning with the 2017-2018 season, home games have been played at Towson University's SECU Arena. The Blast previously played at Royal Farms Arena in downtown Baltimore. Team colors are red and gold. Their current head coach is David Bascome, who took over from Danny Kelly who held the position for 15 years.^[4]

History

NPSL, MISL II and MISL III years

The team was founded by North Carolina-based software executive Bill Stealey as the Baltimore Spirit at the end of July 1992 and joined the National Professional Soccer League. The team replaced the earlier Baltimore Blast, who folded along with the original Major Indoor Soccer League.^[5] When the team was purchased by Ed Hale, a former owner of the original team, the Spirit were renamed the Blast on July 10, 1998^[6] (Hale had the rights to the Blast name, hence the reason why the team decided to change its name) and joined the new MISL II in 2001. After the MISL II folded in 2008, the team announced it would be joining the new National Indoor Soccer League, which would later acquire the rights to, and became, the third version of the MISL.

Shift to MASL

One day after the 2013–2014 MISL Championship final, USL President Tim Holt announced a number of teams would not be returning to the MISL the following year.^[7] The franchise announced on April 2, 2014, that it would not return to the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) after its contract with the United Soccer Leagues (USL), owners of the circuit, expired following the 2013–14 season.^[8] It was officially announced the Blast would be one of six teams joining the Professional Arena Soccer League (later renamed the Major Arena Soccer League) in the 2014–2015 season.^[9][10]

In their first two seasons as a member of MASL, the Blast would win 33 out of 39 games. They placed first in the Eastern Division in both the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 seasons, played in the 2015 and 2016 championship series and won the 2016 series over Soles de Sonora two games to none. The Blast repeated as Newman Cup Champions in 2017, again winning the final series over Soles de Sonora two games to one. In 2018, the Blast won their third straight championship, defeating the Monterrey Flash 4-3 in the final.

Attempted launch of the IPL

On February 18, 2016, Blast owner Ed Hale announced his intentions to leave the Major Arena Soccer League and form a new league.^[11]

On May 3, 2016, the expansion franchise Florida Tropics SC held a press conference stating they would be joining the IPL. At the press conference, Ed Hale was announced as the chairman of the league, and Sam Fantauzzo, former owner of the Rochester Lancers, was announced as the first commissioner of the league. It was announced that the St. Louis Ambush, Baltimore Blast, and Harrisburg Heat had "resigned" from the MASL.^[12][13]

On August 29, 2016, the Blast, Heat, Ambush re-entered the MASL with the expansion Tropics joining.^[14] The move effectively folded the IPL as no teams remained in the league.

After rejoining the MASL, the Blast would go on to win their second Eastern Division championship and MASL championship over Soles de Sonora for the second year in a row.

Move to SECU Arena

The Blast announced in August 2017 that they would move from the Royal Farms Arena to the SECU Arena on the campus of Towson University, beginning in the 2017-2018 MASL season.^[1] The move was the first time the Blast franchise played home games in an arena other than the Royal Farms Arena. In June 2021 the Blast announced an affiliation partnership with Baltimore Kings, who will be playing their first arena soccer season in MASL 3 in January 2022.^[15] In March 2023, the Blast announced that the Rochester Lancers would be their affiliate in MASL 2^[16]

Players

2021–22 roster

Active players

• As of 6 July 2020 ^[17]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF   PUR Armando Tello 0 GK   ITA William Vanzela 8 FW   BRA Lucas Roque 9 DF   USA Richard Schmermund 11 MF   USA Tony Donatelli 12 DF   BRA Adriano Dos Santos 13 DF   USA Jereme Raley 14 DF   USA Ibrahima Keita 15 FW   BRA Victor France 17 FW   USA Jamie Thomas

No. Pos. Nation Player 18 MF   CIV Mohamed Ndiaye 19 DF   BRA Marco Nascimento 20 DF   USA Mike Deasel 22 FW   BRA Juan Pereira 23 MF   BRA Jonatas Melo 24 GK   USA Mike Zierhoffer 26 DF   USA Quenton Swift 27 FW   USA Mike Da Silva 90 FW   COL Juan Galvis

Inactive players

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 9 FW   USA Sylla Salifou

No. Pos. Nation Player 30 FW   BRA Daniel Oliveira

Staff

•   David Bascome – Head coach, (2020–present)^[18]

Retired numbers

Player	Number
Stan Stamenkovic	#10

Hall of Fame

Position	Person	Inducted
Coach	Kenny Cooper	2004
FW	Stan Stamenkovic	2004
DF	Mike Stankovic	2004
DF	Bruce Savage	2005
N/A	Earl Foreman	2005
FW	Tim Wittman	2005
FW	Joey Fink	2006
FW	Dave MacWilliams	2006
FW	Heinz Wirtz	2007
FW	Domenic Mobilio	2008
GK	Keith Van Eron	2008
FW	Billy Ronson	2009
DF	Richard Chinapoo	2009
FW	Pat Ercoli	2010
GK	Cris Vaccaro	2010
DF	Doug Neely	2011
FW	Dan Counce	2012
DF	Rusty Troy	2012
FW	Tarik Walker	2013
MF	Denison Cabral	2014
DF	Lance Johnson	2015
MF/Coach	Danny Kelly	2017
GK	Sagu	2018
DF	PJ Wakefield	2019
FW	Giuliano Celenza	2019
MF	Lee Tschantret	2020
FW/Coach	David Bascome	2020
Trainer	Marty McGinty	2020

Notable former players

•   Denison Cabral
•   Jason Dieter
•   Levi Houapeu
•   Jason Maricle
•   Tony McPeak
•   Tino Nuñez
•   Onua Obasi
•   Rusty Troy
•   Barry Stitz
•   PJ Wakefield
•   Tarik Walker

Year-by-year

Year	League	W	L	Win%	GF	GA	GF/G	GA/G	Finish	Playoffs	W	L	Avg. attendance
1992–93	NPSL II	27	13	.675	309	256	7.73	6.40	1st American	Quarterfinal	0	2	5,444
1993–94	NPSL II	26	14	.650	322	293	8.05	7.33	1st American	First Round	0	2	6,471
1994–95	NPSL II	23	17	.575	317	307	7.93	7.68	3rd American	First Round	1	2	5,733
1995–96	NPSL II	25	15	.625	306	258	7.65	6.45	2nd American	Division Semifinal	3	3	5,037
1996–97	NPSL II	20	20	.500	260	258	6.50	6.45	2nd East	Conference Semifinal	3	2	4,760
1997–98	NPSL II	12	28	.300	250	300	6.25	7.50	3rd East	DNQ	—	—	5,001
1998–99	NPSL II	19	21	.475	271	290	6.78	7.25	3rd East	DNQ	—	—	4,795
1999–2000	NPSL II	26	18	.591	339	275	7.70	6.25	1st East	Conference Final	2	2	5,445
2000–01	NPSL II	22	18	.550	300	260	7.50	6.50	3rd American	Conference Final	3	2	5,376
2001–02	MISL II	18	26	.409	265	274	6.02	6.23	4th MISL	Semifinal	0	1	4,998
2002–03	MISL II	18	18	.500	189	182	5.25	5.06	3rd Eastern	Champions	4	1	5,559
2003–04	MISL II	25	11	.694	241	192	6.69	5.33	1st Eastern	Champions	4	0	6,330
2004–05	MISL II	15	24	.385	205	238	5.26	6.10	7th MISL	DNQ	—	—	5,752
2005–06	MISL II	17	13	.567	184	168	6.13	5.60	2nd MISL	Champions	4	2	7,005
2006–07	MISL II	15	15	.500	154	150	5.13	5.00	5th MISL	DNQ	—	—	7,449
2007–08	MISL II	19	11	.633	186	135	6.20	4.50	3rd MISL	Champions	5	0	7,230
2008–09	NISL	14	4	.778	132	66	7.33	3.67	1st NISL	Champions	1	0	7,534
2009–10	MISL III	11	9	.550	105	97	5.25	4.85	2nd MISL	Semifinal	0	2	6,259
2010–11	MISL III	15	5	.750	131	93	6.55	4.65	1st MISL	Runner-up	0	1	6,933
2011–12	MISL III	18	6	.750	165	108	6.88	4.50	1st Eastern	Runner-up	2	2	5,961
2012–13	MISL III	21	5	.808	181	108	6.96	4.15	1st MISL	Champions	4	0	5,544
2013–14	MISL III	17	3	.850	147	46	7.35	2.30	1st MISL	Runner-up	3	3	6,123
2014–15	MASL	18	2	.900	167	69	8.35	3.45	1st Eastern	Runner-up	4	2	6,201
2015–16	MASL	15	4	.789	129	57	6.79	3.00	1st Eastern	Champions	6	0	6,102
2016–17	MASL	14	6	.700	113	69	5.65	3.45	1st Eastern	Champions	6	3	6,299
2017–18	MASL	17	5	.773	143	108	6.50	4.91	1st Eastern	Champions	4	0	3,491
2018–19	MASL	17	7	.708	144	103	6.00	4.29	2nd Eastern	Semifinal	2	2	3,317
2019–20	MASL	15	8	.652	175	104	7.61	4.52	4th Eastern	Play-off cancelled	—	—	2,641
2021	MASL	did not participate
2021–22	MASL	12	9	.571	142	111	6.76	5.29	2nd Eastern	Quarterfinal	1	2	2,183
2022–23	MASL	13	11	.542	141	101	5.88	4.21	2nd Eastern	Runner-up	4	3	2,778*
Total		544	366	.598	6,113	5,076	6.72	5.58		Win% = .629	66	39	–
*Attendance average excludes one 15 minute mini match played directly after their quarter-final matchup.

Records

Statistics below show the all-time regular-season club leaders and include player statistics from the original Baltimore Blast which competed in the Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992).^[19][20] Bold indicates active Blast players.

Category	Record holder	Total
Games	Tim Wittman	441
Goals	Denison Cabral	445
Assists	Srboljub Stamenković	199
Game-winning goals	Denison Cabral	32
Blocks	Lance Johnson	694
Shutouts	William Vanzela	11
Wins	William Vanzela	105

Head coaches

•   Kenny Cooper Sr. (1992–1994)
•   Dave MacWilliams (1994–1996)
•   Mike Stankovic (1996–1998)
•   Kevin Healey (1998–2002)
•   Sean Bowers (2002)
•   Bobby McAvan (2002–2003)
•   Tim Wittman (2003–2006)
•   Danny Kelly (2006–2020)
•   David Bascome (2020–present)^[18]

Arenas

• Royal Farms Arena; Baltimore, Maryland (1992–2017) (previously known as Baltimore Civic Center, Baltimore Arena, 1st Mariner Arena)
• SECU Arena; Towson, Maryland (2017–present)

References

•  Maryland portal

1. "Blast find new home at Towson University's SECU Arena".
2. Wells, Carrie (November 8, 2014). "'Hale Storm' reveals prominent former banker's CIA ties, two failed marriages". The Baltimore Sun. Baltimore, MD: Tribune Publishing. Retrieved November 9, 2014.
3. . Archived from the original on 2016-09-02. Retrieved 2016-08-30.
4. "Blast replace head coach Danny Kelly with assistant David Bascome. Kelly departs after 15 years, six championships". Baltimore Sun.
5. Ey, Craig S. (August 11, 1997). "Can soccer succeed in Baltimore?". Baltimore Business Journal. Baltimore, MD: Advance Publications. Retrieved December 9, 2014.
6. "Sidekicks Opponents: Baltimore Blast (New-MISL)".
7. . Archived from the original on 2014-04-15. Retrieved 2014-04-14.
8. Graham, Glenn (April 3, 2014). "Seeking to become 'more relevant,' Blast breaks away from MISL". The Baltimore Sun.
9. Graham, Glenn (November 7, 2014). "A look at the Blast's new league, the MASL". The Baltimore Sun. Baltimore, MD: Tribune Publishing. Retrieved November 9, 2014.
10. . Archived from the original on 2014-04-17.
11. Graham, Glenn (February 18, 2016). "Baltimore Blast owner Ed Hale plans to remove team from MASL, form new league". The Baltimore Sun. Baltimore, MD: Tribune Publishing. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
12. "Press Conference | By Florida Tropics SC | Facebook". www.facebook.com.
13. "Blast owner ed Hale launches Indoor Professional League; eight to 10 teams to start play in November".
14. . Major Arena Soccer League. Archived from the original on 2016-09-02. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
15. Graham, Glenn. "Blast welcome the Baltimore Kings, who will serve as farm team in Major Arena Soccer League's third division". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
16. Lewis, Michael (March 17, 2023). "THEY'LL BE HAVING A BLAST: Lancers announce affiliation with Baltimore". Front Row Soccer.
17. "Stats - Major Arena Soccer League".
18. https://www.baltimoreblast.com/news/baltimore-blast-announce-new-coach^{[dead link]}
19. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-04-26. Retrieved 2017-02-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
20. "All-Time Roster". Baltimore Blast. Retrieved 8 September 2022.

External links

• Official website
• Baltimore Blast on FunWhileItLasted.net