Around The League // Week 3
Welcome back to Around The League, your home for numbers and nuance from the past week of action in the Major Arena Soccer League. On a second consecutive weekend of season openers, it’s a returning team that retains the focus of our attention, but before we discuss a second straight loss for the hosts in Southern California, let’s show the Blast some love after a thoroughly deserved win against Kansas City.
TU Arena remains a fortress
Last season’s semifinalists made a statement at their home opener, taking down the high-flying Comets 11-3 on Saturday night. Baltimore dominated at TU Arena in 2024/25 and looks poised to do even better this season with an immensely talented cast.
The Blast ran rampant from the very first whistle and never took its foot off the gas. Three straight goals set the tone for the night, including a first-half hat-trick from Juan Pereira. While a second-quarter goal from Lesia Thetsane gave the visitors a glimmer of hope, it was quickly dashed as the Blast took a 5-1 lead into the locker rooms.
Baltimore carried that momentum into the third quarter, scoring four more goals en route to a comfortable, comprehensive eight-goal win. Their set-piece and transitional dominance gave them an early advantage, as their first two goals came directly from attacking restarts.
They found success against the ball, too, pressing in every area of the field, forcing turnovers, and capitalizing on transitions quickly with devastating accuracy. Of their 11 goals on the night, six came within seven seconds of the Blast gaining possession through a turnover or defensive restart.
“If you misplaced something, the first thing you do is look for it,” said Blast head coach David Bascome, “It’s a mental shift and mental behavior, before any structure or any design. No matter what we do, if it’s controlling a pass or keeping the ball for a period of time, it has to be something they can relate to over and over again”.
Last season, the Blast were among the league’s best offenses, boasting the fourth-highest Goals Per Shot (0.255), the third-highest xG overperformance (+21), and the lowest Opponent Save Percentage (0.632). Head Coach David Bascome’s system puts his players in situations that bring the best out of them, and that certainly rang true against the Comets.
This team is fast and physical, and in the intimate dimensions of the TU Arena field, their helter-skelter press and transition game allows the likes of Pereira, Chad Poarch, Jonatas Melo, and so many others to take dangerous shots from all over the field, creating chaos for them to follow up and finish. Until another team can find a way to counter it, Baltimore remains the favorite under its roof.
Next weekend, Baltimore hits the road for a pair of games in Tacoma. The Stars beat the Blast twice in a similar weekend series last season, but this year is an opportunity to prove they’re ready to take the next step towards contending for the Ron Newman Cup with two difficult road wins.
“We don’t play any differently [away from home], the thing is how do you shift the distance and angle [to goal],” said coach Bascome, “getting that right is the key”.
Kick off against the Stars is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 13, at 9:05 PM EST and again the following day at 8:05 PM EST.
I’ll quickly mention the Comets’ takeaways, though truthfully, there aren’t as many as there were last week. After a poor showing in Baltimore, the Comets took on Utica with tired legs, yet managed to keep in touch with the hosts for most of the game, before a late explosion of goals for both teams sent the game to overtime. Forward Rian Marques found the game winner after just 24 seconds, giving Kansas City a positive end to a challenging road trip.
The Comets showed verve to take a beating the night before and put in a gritty performance against a Utica team that enjoys playing quick, end-to-end indoor soccer. Those two points could have huge implications down the stretch, especially while other teams find their footing early in the season. Up next is a rematch of last season’s Ron Newman Cup quarterfinals, as the Wave travel to Kansas City for the first of four meetings between these two bitter rivals. Kickoff from Cable Dahmer Arena will be Friday, Dec. 12, at 8:05 PM EST.
Is it time for San Diego to hit the panic button?
It’s poetic that Milwaukee’s new head coach, Marcio Leite, gets his first win in the building where the Wave’s season ended last April. The former Wave player, who also represented the Sockers in 2021, showed few, if any, signs of inexperience during his first appearance on the bench.
“We had a fantastic pre-season,” said Leite in his interview with Socker’s play-by-play commentator, Craig Elston. “Those guys are winners, you know, so they’ll do whatever it takes to win, and that’s what I want to do too”.
The Sockers struggled in several phases of play on the night, and the Wave did a great job of exacerbating those issues with direct, deliberate ball movement. Though San Diego’s press found some early success, Milwaukee adapted well and began playing through the press, creating transitional moments the visitors were happy to convert.
The Wave looked excellent in possession, and the team’s system invited pressure to break through by recycling possession into their own half and waiting for the Sockers to run at them. This allowed them to create artificial counterattacks, even when holding the ball for long spells, which created individual chaos that the Sockers simply were not up for.
Defensively, the Sockers seemed uninterested, both in possession and out of possession. Milwaukee utilized a press of its own and found tremendous success, consistently winning the ball back. Even during moments when the Sockers had possession and attempted to drive forward, the Wave forced them into low-risk shots and high-risk passes that rarely fell in favor of San Diego.
It was a theme that encapsulated the entire evening. Giveaways doomed the hosts from quick set-pieces to attacking ineptitude, and the Wave punished their hospitality. Yes, the Sockers took as many shots as both the Strykers and the Wave, and yes, they still boast one of the most individually talented teams in the league, but this is a moment where we need to blend our statistical analysis with our eye test to build a composite score. So, is it time to hit the panic button?
As of now, it couldn’t be worse, but that is not an indictment of this team's ability to rebound over the next 22 games. The Sockers are still looking for what works. What we’ve seen so far is a test, trial and error, with a lot of error. Remember, individual games are full of noise, also known as randomness. Perhaps this is a very different article if William Banahene doesn’t save Keko Gontán’s acrobatic effort in the second quarter or if Wave doesn’t convert immediately on their double-powerplay.
This weekend, the Wave was the better team, but that could very easily change when these two teams meet again in January or in a potential playoff rematch in April. Cooler heads will prevail, and the Sockers have earned the right to not be at their best in the middle of December. If we’re still having this conversation in a month, then the panic button would be more tempting.
San Diego’s next opportunity to get into the win column will be on the road against the Strykers. Facing a familiar foe in close proximity could be a good way to get out of their slump, but they need to limit the turnovers, be dynamic in attack, and ultimately, find what works for this group of players. Once the wins start, they’ll be much easier to come by, especially for a team as talented as San Diego. Kickoff from Toyota Arena is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 12, at 10:35 PM EST.
For Milwaukee, their early-season gauntlet continues with a trip to Kansas City and St. Louis this weekend. After that win, they deserve to be considered among the favorites to start the campaign; now they need to make good on that assessment with a pair of strong performances. Kickoff from Cable Dahmer Arena will be Friday, Dec. 12, at 8:05 PM EST before they visit The Family Arena on Sunday, Dec. 14, at 3:05 PM EST.