HARRISBURG, Pa. -- On a night when the Blast was having a tough time keeping the Harrisburg Heat away from its new goalkeeper, Scott Hileman, it fell upon the beleaguered defense to hold a slim lead over the last eight minutes of the game.
As Franklin McIntosh said some time back, "When it has to, the defense comes through for us."
Barely.
Holding firmer than it had for most of the evening, the Blast withstood a furious late rush by Harrisburg to triumph, 14-13, last night. The victory not only evened the Blast's record at 16-16, it also was the first time the team has achieved the .500 mark this season.
And the win gave the Blast the season series against the Heat, a fact that could come in handy when playoff time rolls around.
It was a goal by Lance Johnson after a nifty pass from Brad Smith that proved the winner for the visitors at 6: 46 of the fourth quarter.
Just after the 10-minute mark, David Bascome scored his second goal to close the Heat's deficit to a point. Over the last five minutes, the home team had at least four scoring opportunities, but a couple of blocks and a couple of fine saves by Hileman saved the day.
A pair of unassisted goals at the start of the third quarter by Tarik Walker and Denison Cabral appeared to send the Blast on its way. But things never come easy when these teams get together.
"I'm just happy to get out of here with a win," said Blast coach Kevin Healey. "The Heat plays so well here and it really came out energized tonight."
Energized is right. The Heat sent 45 shots goalward and it helped Hileman that his mates blocked 20 of those. Of the remaining 25 shots, Hileman was able to stop 18, many of them in spectacular fashion.
The Blast squandered any number of odd-man rush opportunities over the first 30 minutes, but was down just a point at the break.
McIntosh had a two-pointer and set up Doug Neely and Walker for pieces of all six Blast points.
Meanwhile, on the Heat side, after Gino DiFlorio had scored his 350th two-point goal, ex-Baltimore Spirit hand Mike Henning came to life with a pair of goals.
The difference in the Heat's 7-6 lead at halftime was a power-play goal by Bill Becher.
Walker led the Blast attack with two goals and an assist. McIntosh had a goal and two assists.
Pub Date: 3/06/99