There was no overtime, but the Sting continued to work its magic Friday night. And against Baltimore, of all teams.
Despite taking only three shots on goal in the entire period, the Sting scored three goals in the final quarter to beat the Blast 5-4 in front of 5,006 at the Baltimore Civic Center. There were 3,896 no-shows because of a snowstorm.
It was the Sting`s fourth victory in a row. The other three were all overtime triumphs. It was also the Sting`s third straight victory on the road and boosted its road record this season to 6-10.
”The victories have all been great, but I keep looking at the standings and we`re still at the bottom of the (Eastern) division,” said Sting coach Willy Roy. ”We`re not playing like a last-place team.”
Pittsburgh`s 4-3 victory Friday night in St. Louis kept the Sting .004 behind the fifth-place Spirit.
Fourth-quarter goals by Karl-Heinz Granitza, Ricardo Alonso and Drago Dumbovic powered the Sting (13-16). The Sting is now 1-3 this season against the Blast (19-12), which leads the Major Indoor Soccer League`s Eastern Division and had won eight in a row at home.
Dumbovic, who has scored 10 goals in six games with the Sting, scored two and was named the game`s offensive star. His second goal proved to be the winner. Defender Heinz Wirtz, who left the match in the second quarter with a groin injury, scored the Sting`s first goal.
Goalkeeper Hubert Birkenmeier was sensational, making 15 saves. His save on a point-blank shot by Yilmaz Orhan in the final seconds saved the match.
Juan Carlos Michia, Paul Kitson, Stan Stamenkovic and Richard Chinapoo scored for Baltimore.
The Sting moved forward Ben Collins back to defense to mark Stamenkovic, and he held the All-Star forward scoreless to earn defensive star of the game honors. Stamenkovic was being guarded by Neill Roberts when he scored.
”Chicago definitely played better,” said Blast coach Kenny Cooper.
”They deserved to win.”
