For Blast, small things matter most

After Saturday night?s 6-4 loss to Detroit ? the first home loss of the season for the Blast (4-6) ? coach Danny Kelly was frustrated with his team?s performance.

“We?re still doing too many little things wrong,” Kelly said. “We?re still not setting up quickly enough on set plays. We?re still not trapping as well as we need to trap. It?s just a hard loss to take, to be honest with you.”

The recipients of numerous bad bounces and misfortunes since winning a third Major Indoor Soccer League title in four years, the Blast allowed two deflection goals Saturday night. Those two goals, which caught goalkeeper Sagu off-guard, were the difference in the game.

“We tried to do everything right, but sometimes there are little things you need to correct in the game,” Sagu said.

While the Blast improved its team defense, the offense struggled to finish opportunities, particularly early on.

“A half an inch here, a half an inch there. That?s soccer,” veteran Lee Tschantret said. “That?s sports in general. Inches make the game.”

Near misses on offense led to opportunities for the Ignition (6-6) on the Blast end of the field.

“We lost a lot of goals,” Sagu said. “[Detroit keeper Sonaldo] made some saves, but we lost a lot of goals. And if we don?t score, they?ll score on us.”

After scoring 19 goals in a 21-19 loss the week prior, the Blast couldn?t get the offense and defense on the same page Saturday.

“It just seems we?re not able to put our game together,” Tschantret said. “We?ll score 15 but give up 16. In others, we?ll play well defensively and we?re not scoring. Its just a matter of time.”

As the Blast eagerly awaits the return of injured talents P.J. Wakefield, Guiliano Celenza and Adauto Neto (defending league MVP), it does have time on its side.

“There?s no real reason to panic,” Tschantret said. “We have 20 games ahead of us.”