Lazers Hold Off Rally by Blast, 4-3

Although it would take a minor miracle for the Lazers to make the playoffs, they can still earn some respect if they close out the season playing as well as they did Friday night.

After jumping out to a three-goal lead, the Lazers held off a fourth-quarter charge by Baltimore and beat the Blast, 4-3, before a crowd of 4,537 at the Forum.

The Lazers sparkled defensively for most of the game but let up enough to allow two fourth-quarter goals, which evened the score at 3-3. The Blast (26-14) looked as though they would overtake the Lazers as they outshot them, 8-4, in the final period.

But the Lazers held on, and with 36 seconds left, they were awarded a power-play. Michael Collins kicked the ball to Gus Mokalis, who blasted a 20-foot shot past Scott Manning, snapping a two-game losing streak.

The Lazers (10-29) have shown signs of improvement since the recent addition of seven new players but hadn’t been able to sustain it for an entire game. Friday night, however, was a different story.

“Everyone played well tonight,” Lazer Coach Keith Tozer said. “We stuck 100% to the game plan and executed perfectly.”

One reason for their stingy defense was the play of goalkeeper David Brcic, who was back after missing seven games with a broken nose.

Brcic had 25 saves. He was also helped by solid defensive support by his teammates.

The Lazers, whose defense was especially solid throughout the first half, managed an offensive burst that netted three first-half goals in just over a minute’s time.

Operating on the power-play late in the first quarter, Stuart Lee positioned himself in front of the Baltimore net, took a center-pass from Thompson Usiyan and put the ball past Baltimore goalkeeper Jay McCutcheon, making it 1-0 with 1:03 left.

Then, with 40 seconds left in the same period, Usiyan charged down field with the ball, took a shot that bounced high off the glass, and headed it in from 10 feet out, giving the Lazers a 2-0 lead.

The Lazers’ momentum carried into the second quarter as Usiyan took a pass from Marcio Leite 25 seconds into the second quarter, and scored his 20th goal from 20 feet straight out.

Usiyan, the latest addition to the club, has four goals and two assists in two games with the Lazers.

“We didn’t have Usiyan before,” Tozer said. “Thompson Usiyan is an impact player.”

The Blast defense tightened up after that, and the Lazer defense continued to play well although Brcic allowed a power-play goal when Drago put the ball between his legs at point-blank range 2:58 into the second quarter, making it 3-1 Lazers at halftime.

After a scoreless third quarter, Baltimore’s offense began to pressure the Lazer defense, seemingly desperate to keep its one-game lead over the Cleveland Force.

Paul Child scored 54 seconds into the fourth quarter, making it 3-2 Lazers, and Dave MacWilliams scored 11:03 into the period, tying the game.

“Baltimore is a very talented team,” Tozer said. “They held the ball in well.” But this time, they failed to get the upper hand on Brcic and the Lazer defense.