Since David Bascome took over as head coach of the Baltimore Blast two-plus years ago, he has been looking to boost the attacking power of his team in its pursuit of another indoor soccer championship.
Ahead of the 2022-23 Major Arena Soccer League season, the Blast signed two proven scorers from outside the organization in Moises Gonzalez and Antonio Manfut, who have scored nearly 250 combined goals in their careers. After a disappointing playoff exit last season, Gonzalez and Manfut function as second forwards alongside Blast top scorer Lucas Roque, who notched a career-high 26 goals in 2021-22.
In addition to the attackers, the Blast signed midfielder Ricardinho Sobreira and former Baltimore defender Onua Obasi to add some more firepower to the backline. Baltimore also returned 10-year veteran Tony Donatelli, eighth-year man Juan Pereira and nine-year veteran Roque.
“I’m really excited about the additions,” said Bascome, who is in his second full season as head coach after the Blast’s 2020-21 season was wiped out because of COVID-19.
In 2021-22, Baltimore finished the regular season 12-9 before falling to the Chihuahua Savage in the MASL quarterfinals, pushing its championship drought to three seasons.
“This is a big year,” Bascome said. “It’s a year where the excuses become less and less if we can’t get something done and the accountability has now gotten greater.”
In Gonzalez, Bascome saw a prolific scorer who had played all over the field in his seven previous MASL seasons. Gonzalez, 30, boasted 160 career goals and 73 assists entering the 2022-23 season. In stints with Brownsville, Syracuse, Rio Grande Valley and Utica City, Gonzalez has proven to be a versatile player with a knack for scoring special teams goals (22 entering this season).
“Moises is a very good player, technically sound, especially on special teams he will do well,” Bascome said. “But it was more as far as having that old-school stand-up target who turns around on the ball, he just has that natural target ability.”
With just two playoff appearances during his career, signing with Baltimore, a perennial championship contender, was an easy decision for Gonzalez, a native of Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico.
“It’s no joke, I mention it to my wife a lot that I just want to win,” Gonzalez said. “I think I made the best decision to come here, and my goal is to help the team and do whatever I can to win a championship.”
Gonzalez wasted little time fitting in during the Dec. 3 season opener at SECU Arena, twice assisting Roque in an 8-7 Blast victory against Utica City. Donatelli recorded a hat trick, while Sobreira tallied an assist. Baltimore followed that up with losses against the Florida Tropics and St. Louis Ambush.
Manfut, 28, has notched 87 career goals in his first seven seasons since breaking into the league with the Syracuse Silver Knights in 2014-15. The Cleveland native last played in the MASL for Florida during the COVID-shortened 2021 season. A torn ACL sidelined him all of last season, but he was cleared to play this summer just in time to win the 2022 IFA Futsal World Championship with Team USA.
Like Gonzalez, Manfut has made just a handful of playoff appearances, the most recent in 2018-19. In addition to his personal goal of reaching 100 goals — something he hopes to do this season — Manfut said raising a trophy in Baltimore factored heavily into his decision to move on from Florida.
“I’ve done a lot in my career, with indoor and futsal, and this is something that has evaded me,” he said of an indoor title. “I’m hoping to get that monkey off my back.”
Bascome said he was excited to add Manfut because he’ll provide movement to the Blast attack and “gives us a push forward” as another second forward option next to Roque. Manfut has proven he can be a top scorer in the league. He scored 21 goals and added nine assists in 20 games with Syracuse in 2016-17, then followed that up with 20 goals and eight assists with Rio Grande Valley in 2017-18.
Obasi, a 34-year-old native of England, started his indoor career with the Blast from 2014-2016. He was named to the MASL All-Rookie team along with Vini Dantas. In his last Blast season, Obasi scored the opening goal in the championship game against Sonora to help the Blast win an eighth title. He received All-MASL Honorable Mention honors along with Donatelli.
As for the 33-year-old Sobreira, the attacking prowess of the native Brazilian may be waning as he enters his 11th season, but Bascome still expects him to provide key minutes. Sobreira, a teammate of Manfut in Florida, had 34 career assists entering this season.
While the ultimate goal in Baltimore is always to add to its 10 indoor championships, Bascome sees this season as an opportunity to maintain a level of consistency that at times was lacking last season.
“Our goal is to win the championship, that’s the final goal because when you make these coaching changes, you want to have proof of your concept,” the coach said. “But at the end of the day, it’s about results. Fans want to see results.”
BLAST 2022-23 SCHEDULE
(Home games listed in CAPS. Does not include first six games.)
JANUARY
Saturday, Jan. 7: EMPIRE
Tuesday, Jan. 17: at Empire
Saturday, Jan. 21: UTICA CITY
Friday, Jan. 27: at Harrisburg
Sunday, Jan. 29: at Utica City
FEBRUARY
Saturday, Feb. 4: HARRISBURG
Sunday, Feb. 5: HARRISBURG
Saturday, Feb. 11: MILWAUKEE
Sunday, Feb. 19: HARRISBURG
Saturday, Feb. 25: at Harrisburg
Sunday, Feb. 26: at Utica City
MARCH/APRIL
Friday, March 3: KANSAS CITY
Saturday, March 11: at Kansas City
Saturday, March 18: UTICA CITY
Sunday, March 19: KANSAS CITY
Saturday, March 25: at Mesquite
Sunday, March 26: MESQUITE
Saturday, April 1: at Utica City
Photo Credit: Mikayla Mellis
Issue 278: December 2022 / January 2023
Originally published Dec. 21, 2022