The Baltimore Blast is headed to the playoffs once again.
Baltimore finished in third place and will play the second-place Milwaukee Wave on April 22 at the 1st Mariner Arena in the opening round of the Major Indoor Soccer League playoffs.
Baltimore and Milwuakee both have 17-13 records, but Milwuake won four of six games between the two teams this season.
Blast interim player-coach Danny Kelly expects to see a tough Wave team. “They are three deep in almost every position,” Kelly said.
The trip to the MISL post season was not without incident for the Blast. Since March 3, the Blast have gone 3-7, including back-to-back losses in the final regular-season games.
Kelly led Baltimore through its final five regular-season games when the Blast lost head coach Tim Wittman to an indefinite suspension March 20, after a post-game altercation with an official on March 18 in California.
Steve Ryan, the MISL commissioner, said: “There is absolutely no room in our game for any physical mistreatment of an MISL game official.”
Wittman was suspended by the league from any MISL or Baltimore Blast activities for the remainder of the regular season,and the duration of the MISL 2006 Championship Series.
The Blast had already clinched a spot in the playoffs at the time of the suspension.
“I am just trying to keep it simple and get us back on track,” Kelly said. Kelly, a 14-season veteran of the MISL, had no prior experience as a head coach.
“I believe Danny Kelly is the team?s best chance to succeed in the playoffs and ultimately, win the championship,” said Ed Hale, the Blast owner.
“We played well for four games,” Kelly said. The Blast split Kelly?s first four games, with both defeats coming by a single goal. In the team?s final game on the road against the Philadelphia KiXX, Baltimore went ahead 2-0, and then allowed eight straight goals.
“It is the start of a brand new season,” said Kelly, of taking a two-game losing streak into the playoffs. “We need to focus on playing better defense as a team and executing opportunities.”
PLAYOFFS ARE A BLAST
>> Three of the six games between the Blast and the Wave this season have been decided by one goal, and only one of those six games was decided by more than three scores.
>> Baltimore has a 12-3 record playing at home in the 1st Mariner Arena, and a 5-10 record on the road
