Machel Millwood has a flair for the dramatic.
After downing the defending champion Milwaukee Wave just a week earlier in the first round of the playoffs, Millwood scored his second series-winning “golden goal” of the playoffs to lift the Baltimore Blast to the Major Indoor Soccer League Championship in St. Louis on Sunday.
Millwood was named the Most Valuable Player of the Championship Series, leading the Blast to victory over the St. Louis Steamers.
The win marked the third time in four seasons that the MISL title banner will hang from the rafters at First Mariner Arena in Baltimore.
The Blast won Friday, 4-2, at First Mariner Arena, and dropped the second game of the series Sunday, 4-1, at Savvis Center in St. Louis.
With a new MISL playoff scenario that called for a golden-goal session immediately following the second game, the Blast found new life despite being outplayed for the entire contest Sunday.
“Well, after we lost in regular time, we knew that anything could happen in overtime,” Millwood told ESPN2 shortly after his goal.
The Jamaican native placed a left-foot shot into the top of the net inside the near post on a pass from University of Maryland-Baltimore County product Giuliano Celenza 8:33 into the 15-minute session.
The Blast were without franchise points leader Denison Cabral, former head coach Tim Wittman, and goalkeeper Sagu, but player-coach Danny Kelly said his team kept their sights on the title.
“We were just focused on the job at hand,” Kelly told ESPN2. “It was unfortunate what happened with Timmy. Our job is to play ball and win games. We came together and that?s what we did.”
Kelly, a 14-year veteran, took the helm of the team in late March, and the Blast finished out the regular season 2-3 under his command. The Blast finished the regular season 17-13, tied for second place with Milwaukee in the six-team league.
On Friday, the Blast won 4-2 behind a 22-save performance from reserve goalkeeper Sanaldo, who was filling in for fellow Brazilian countryman Sagu.
THEY HAD A BLAST
» Kelly scored the lone goal Sunday late in the second game of the home-and-home series, finishing a crossing-pass with a one-touch shot to the far post. Former Blast keeper Brett Phillips played well in goal for the Steamers, turning aside a number of scoring opportunities.
» Aside from UMBC?s Celenza, who played prep soccer for Archbishop Curley, the Blast have plenty of homegrown talent on the roster: P.J. Wakefield (UMBC), Steve Fell (Towson University), Billy Nelson (UMBC) all played college soccer in the area. Nelson played high school soccer for Bel Air, while Fell played for Stephen Decatur High School in Berlin, Md.
» The Blast were out-shot by the Steamers Friday, 45-25, including an 18-shot fourth-quarter barrage.
» St. Louis midfielder Jamar Beasley, whose brother DeMarcus is a midfielder on the U.S. National team, scored his third goal of the playoffs in Sunday?s game.
