After last night's game against the Oklahoma City Slickers, the Baltimore Bays gave their game jerseys to fans as part of the team's "Shirts Off Our Backs Night" promotion.
During the game, the Bays weren't nearly as generous.
Playing in their final regular-season game, the playoff-bound Bays reeled off six unanswered goals in the second quarter and then hung on for a 12-8 victory before an overflow crowd of 624 at Du Burns Arena.
The win ended a three-game losing streak for the Bays (12-5) and gave them momentum heading into next weekend's U.S. Interregional Soccer League playoffs.
Joe Koziol and Mark Mettrick each tallied three goals and an assist for the Bays and Billy Ronson, the league's assist leader for the second straight year, had four assists.
"We needed this one and we got it," said Bays coach Kevin Healey, whose team will play the Slickers (8-3) again next Saturday. "We were already in the playoffs so the game didn't really mean anything, but it meant a lot mentally, because we've beaten this team twice and we're going to see them again next weekend."
The Bays, who will face the Knoxville Impact at 6 p.m. Friday in the opening round of the playoffs in Tulsa, Okla., scored first at the 6:16 mark when Joe Barger took a pass from Ronson and caromed a shot off of a defender and into the net.
The Bays put a barrage of shots on goal in the closing minutes of the first quarter but were turned away by five saves from Brent Jameson.
A tripping call against the Bays helped set up the Slickers' lone first-half score, a shootout goal by Todd McPherson.
The Bays had no trouble finishing shots in the second quarter, scoring six unanswered goals to take a 7-1 halftime lead.
Oklahoma City 1 0 3 4 -- 8
Baltimore .. .1 6 3 2 -- 12
First quarter -- 1. Balt., J. Barger from Ronson, 6:16; 2. Okla., McPherson unassisted, 14:44.
Second quarter -- 3. Balt., Mettrick from Parravano, 2:25; 4. Balt., G. Barger unassisted, 3:21; 5. Balt., Koziol from Riedlbauer, 3:43; 6. Balt., Koziol from Mettrick, 5:51; 7. Balt., Stroud and Santoro, 11:28; 8. Balt., Mettrick from Ronson, 13:16.
Third quarter -- 9. Balt., Riedlbauer from Ronson, :35; 10. Okla., Martin from McPherson, 3:57; 11. Balt., J. Barger unassisted, 4:32; 12. Okla., Cussen from McPherson, 5:52; 13. Balt., Koziol from Ronson, 8:31; 14. Okla., Williams from McPherson, 13:23.
Fourth quarter -- 15. Okla., McPherson from Ross, 2:57; 16. Okla., McPherson unassisted, 3:49; 17. Okla., Martin unassisted, 5:46; 18. Balt., Mettrick from Koziol, 7:44; 19. Balt., Riedlbauer unassisted, 14:16; 20. Okla., Martin from Ross, 14:58.
Shots on goal -- Oklahoma City 33; Baltimore 33. Saves -- Oklahoma City, Ameson, 10; Sparks 1; Baltimore, Tenney 10; Hartlove 7. A -- 624.