February 27, 2020
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (February 27, 2020) -- The Rochester Lancers will look to play the spoiler's role when they visit the Baltimore Blast in a Major Arena Soccer League game at SECU Arena on Saturday night.
The Lancers (0-19), who have been eliminated from the playoff race, will try to make life difficult for the fifth-place Blast (13-8), which is battling the fourth-place Harrisburg Heat (12-7) for the fourth and final Eastern Division berth.
The 6:05 p.m. match can be viewed on MASL.TV.
The Lancers are coming off their finest weekend of the season. On Saturday night, the Lancers made the Blast sweat, rallying from a three-goal deficit in the fourth quarter before Baltimore won in overtime, 6-5. On Sunday, Rochester battled Utica City FC closely in the first half before the hosts pulled away to a 7-2 victory.
Anthony Rozzano is the team scoring leader (nine goals, eight assists, 17 points). Jeremy Ortiz and Michael Cunningham have tallied seven goals apiece while Rafa Godoi has added six. Rookies Diego Mayanga and Matt D'Amico, a former standout at Pittsford Mendon High School and SUNY Geneseo, have contributed seven assists each.
Brian Wilkin, who was outstanding last weekend, is expected to start in goal.
Vini Dantas is the Blast's main man up front (34 goals, 14 assists, 48 assists), followed by Tony Donatelli (20 goals, 20 assists), Jonatas Melo (13 goals, 21 assists) and Juan Pereira (18 goals), who scored the winning goal 55 seconds into sudden-death overtime last week.
The Lancers play only once this week before coming home to the Dome Arena in Henrietta, N.Y. to host their final two contests. They welcome the Florida Tropics on Friday, March 6 and then the Kansas City Comets on Saturday, March 7. Both games kick off at 7 p.m.
Tickets for those matches are available at RLancers.com and at the Dome Arena box office on game day.
The Major Arena Soccer League represents the highest level of professional arena soccer in the world. The MASL features teams across North America, with teams playing coast-to-coast in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The MASL is currently incorporated as a 501(c)6 not for profit corporation formed to promote the business and sport of arena soccer.