Friday: Norfolk SharX (3-13) at Blast (11-4)
Saturday: Rochester Lancers (7-9) at Blast
Site: 1st Mariner Arena
Video: baltimoreblast.com/schedule/broadcastschedule
Outlook: The Blast wants to pick up where it left off last Friday, when it dominated the SharX, 18-2. Max Ferdinand, the Blast's leading scorer with 42 points, had three goals and one assist and the defense blanked the SharX for the final three quarters. The Blast, which has a 4 1/2-game lead over second place Rochester in the Major Indoor Soccer League's Eastern division, has decisively won both meetings against the expansion SharX this season. Norfolk is surrendering a league-high 18-plus points per game. The Blast has had much the same success against fellow expansion Rochester, defeating the Lancers in all three meetings so far. With eight games remaining in the regular season, another win against the Lancers would all but seal first place in the division. The Lancers, though, have three of the league's top 10 scorers, led by Mauricio Salles (second with 53). For the Blast, Machel Millwood (40 points) and Adauto Neto (38) are right behind Ferdinand in scoring, and goalie Sagu leads the league with a 7.67 point against average.
-- Glenn Graham