When the Baltimore Blast was in the midst of its championship run last season, goalkeeper Sagu was a key component. But when the team celebrated in St. Louis, fellow Brazilian Sanaldo was in the net. Sagu was injured.
In a matchup between the ex-teammates Saturday night at 1st Mariner Arena, Sagu had a fantastic game in goal against Detroit, the expansion team that drafted Sanaldo away from Baltimore.
“We?re very good friends,” Sagu said.
Sagu made 14 saves ? many of which came inside the goalkeeper?s box ? on 16 shots as the Blast picked up an 11-5 win to avenge a season-opening loss in Detroit. The Blast improved to 2-1, while the Ignition fell to the same record.
After making a handful of saves from point-blank range, Sagu said the key was to look as big as humanly possible and take up as much of the goal as he could.
“He was making saves on his own a lot of times,” Blast coach Danny Kelly said.
Kelly wasn?t happy with his team?s performance, saying that they weren?t playing fundamentally sound soccer.
“Did we deserve to win that game? I don?t know,” Kelly said. “But we fought hard. We battled.”
The final score isn?t entirely indicative of how the game played out, as Detroit was within striking distance in the final three minutes of the game.
That said, Sagu?s performance was the difference.
“You?re going to need that to win games in this league ? your keeper playing well,” Kelly said. “Sagu is the primary reason we won this game tonight.”
Kelly, who was on the field in front of Sagu last season when he was player-coach, said that a keeper?s performance can do more than keep the ball out of the net.
“It makes you want to pick up your level,” Kelly said. “You see somebody like Sagu saving you when you make mistakes, you play well and leave everything you have on the field.”
For his efforts, Sagu was named the player of the game.
“He was making saves from two yards away,” said Machel Millwood, who had a goal and two assists. “I give all praises to Sagu. He?ll continue to carry us throughout the season.”
