Twenty-four hours after the worst drubbing in club history, Spirit coach Dave MacWilliams was "looking for a reaction" by the team.
He got one.
"I'm looking for the guys to be teed off," MacWilliams said before the game. "I'm looking for them to work their tails off, like it's their last game. If they play like they did Friday night, it will be the last game for some guys. This is character time, a gut check."
The Spirit checked out fairly well. After surrendering a Baltimore Arena-record 30 points to the Buffalo Blizzard on Friday night, the Spirit allowed a season-low six last night in defeating the Detroit Rockers, 11-6, before 4,119.
"After being embarrassed the night before, the guys put out the effort," MacWilliams said. "But it's one game. I want to see it over a length of time. I won't forget Friday night easily. It'll sit in my stomach a long time."
The Spirit bore only faint resemblance to the team that yielded 84 points in the preceding four games. The club's previous low was an 11-8 win over the Chicago Power in the second game of the season. Over one stretch last night, Detroit went 23 minutes, eight seconds without scoring.
Once Tim Wittman and Barry Stitz provided a 5-1 lead, the Spirit was not threatened. Franklin McIntosh, Jon Parry and Lance Johnson also scored. McIntosh, the newcomer, had four points, raising his National Professional Soccer League record to 752.
"It was two different games," Wittman said. "We didn't play that great, but we did what we had to do. Let's see what happens the next game."
The Spirit took a 5-2 halftime lead on Wittman's three-point goal and Stitz's two-pointer. It gave Wittman, the Spirit's No. 2 scorer behind Kevin Sloan, 29 points in the last six games. He added an assist in the third quarter.
After some hesitation, MacWilliams started Cris Vaccaro in goal the night after the veteran was peppered with 28 points in the 30-14 loss to the Buffalo Blizzard. Buffalo's 30 were the most scored by one team at the arena in the Spirit's two-plus seasons. It also was the Spirit's largest margin of defeat, home or away.
MacWilliams considered starting Joe Mallia, the No. 2 goalie who has a 5-3 record but hasn't played since losing to the Harrisburg Heat Nov. 26. After studying Friday night's game tape -- "I only watched it twice; couldn't stomach any more." -- MacWilliams settled on Vaccaro.
"Even though we gave up 30 points, 10 or 11 goals were from inside the box, because of a lack of marking by everybody," MacWilliams said. "I could see making a change if the goals were long range, but when they're only from me to you, the odds aren't in your favor."
NOTES: The game showcased the NPSL's all-time leaders in goals (Detroit's Dan O'Keefe, 350) and points (the Spirit's McIntosh, 752). O'Keefe spent last season with Baltimore and indicated he would retire, only to resurface with his old team, the Rockers. He has 14 points in his first six games back. . . .Detroit played without leading scorer Pato Margetic (strained knee). . . . Twenty youngsters from the Anne Arundel County Police Department's Youth Division attended the game with tickets purchased by McIntosh under his "Franklin's Friends" program.
Detroit .... 1 .. 1 .. 0 .. 4 .. -- ... 6
Baltimore .. 5 .. 0 .. 4 .. 2 .. -- .. 11