On the night the Baltimore Blast raised their 2012-13 Major Indoor Soccer League championship banner, it was a banner night for Nick Vorberg.
The 38-year-old goalkeeper made 14 saves in the fifth shutout in team history as the Wave posted a stunning 8-0 victory over the Blast in front of 8,780 fans at Baltimore Arena.
J.C. Banks (Milwaukee Riverside/UW-Green Bay) scored his first two goals for Milwaukee (2-0). Hewerton was credited with the other goal, a bizarre own goal with 5:03 left in the first half – that ended up being the final goal of the night.
As if the clean sheet – the first time the Blast have been blanked at home in their history – and own goal weren't odd enough, Milwaukee won despite putting only five shots on goal in the 60-minute game.
Baltimore (1-1) outshot the Wave 36-10, but Milwaukee defenders blocked 22 shots in front of Vorberg. Judson McKinney, Fabio Ribeiro and Victor Quiroz each blocked three shots apiece to lead the way.
Banks gave the Wave the lead with the first goal of his indoor career 9 minutes, 21 seconds into the game, leaping into the air and side-volleying a pass from Nick Perera past Blast keeper William Vanzela.
Then 8:49 into the second period, Banks took the ball off a Baltimore player, dribbled in and rifled a left-footed shot past the diving Vanzela to the left side for a 3-pointer to make it 5-0.
The lead grew to 8-0 on the own goal. Luan Oliveira played a long ball from inside the Wave's half that bounced off the end boards to Blast defender Lucio Gonzaga, who tried to head it back to Vanzela, only to see it fly into the goal. The 3-point goal should have been credited to Oliveira, the last Milwaukee player to touch it, but the official scorer gave it to Hewerton.
Vanzela was pulled in favor of a sixth attacker for the final 4:09, but Baltimore just couldn't solve Vorberg. It was the second shutout of his career – he stopped 13 shots in a 15-0 win over Monterrey La Raza on Nov. 22, 2009.
Milwaukee closes out its season-opening, three-game road trip Sunday against the expansion Pennsylvania Roar (0-2) at 3:05 p.m. Sunday in Reading, Pa. The Wave play host to the Blast in their home opener Dec. 7 at U.S. Cellular Arena.
On Twitter: @NickVorberg @jcbanks11
Date | Opponent | Score | Goalkeeper |
---|---|---|---|
Jan. 18, 1986 | Chicago Shoccers | 2-0 | Tony Pierce |
March 6, 1993 | Denver Thunder | 14-0 | Tony Pierce |
Jan. 28, 1995 | Chicago Power | 16-0 | Victor Nogueira |
Nov. 22, 2009 | at Monterrey La Raza | 15-0 | Nick Vorberg |
Nov. 23, 2013 | at Baltimore Blast | 8-0 | Nick Vorberg |