Detroit Waza Flo played their first away games of the Major Arena Soccer League season with a 26-0 loss to the Baltimore Blast and then came back on Saturday with a 14-6 win over the Harrisburg Heat.
Detroit not only withstood a barrage of shots on Friday against the Blast but also had to deal with a long bus ride there with problems along the way which got them to the arena in Maryland only 20 minutes prior to the game. They also were without many veterans and Italian Goalkeeper Matteo Zani faced his first career start in the MASL.
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The Blast are expected to be at the top of the league this year and were formally with the Major Indoor Soccer League prior to the merging with the Professional Arena Soccer League where Detroit played.
The scoring this weekend also was different as only 4 teams in the league use multi-point scoring in which some goals are worth 2 points and others are worth 3 points so the 26-0 score seems a lot worse than if it were only single point scoring, but either way, Detroit was shutout Friday night.
Waza Flo never gave in and kept playing until the bitter end and even kept the Blast scoreless in the 4th quarter. Detroit had 13 shots on the night and Baltimore's big scorer of the night was Lucas Roque with 4 goals.
Owner Dominic Scicluna put out a heartfelt and motivational message to his team and fans after the loss to let everyone know that it was a very rough night but that they were not letting it dampen their spirit and that they will "find gratitude in the moment no matter how difficult this may be."
Waza Flo did what they do best and used this loss to remind them how much they appreciate and love this game and it propelled them even more to take their 2nd win of the season against the Harrisburg Heat by a score of 14-6.
Detroit also welcomed back two former Waza Flo teammates this weekend when they signed AJ Jobe and Zach Bowman back to the squad. Their presence would be felt on the scoreboard that night as well as each scored a goal. Waza also signed Chris Williams, a former Baltimore Blast player, to play with them as well for the weekend.
Drew Ducker would be the one to start off the scoring for Waza at the end of the 1st quarter when Victor Otieno found Ducker for the first goal of the night for a 2-0 lead. Veteran Miki Djerisilo took a long pass and made magic with a goal in the 2nd quarter. The Heat would score twice that quarter with Tom Mellor having the first of the night.
AJ Jobe would make a statement that he was back with his goal and Zach Bowman was not far behind when he was assisted by Sam Fiore for the final goal of the half to double the lead over Heat 8-4 at half.
The 3rd quarter remained scoreless and Matteo Zani found his rhythm Saturday night and after a 4th quarter goal by the Heat, he made a big save to keep Waza in the lead.
Miki secured a hat trick on the night after his next two goals in the 4th quarter which brought the score to 12-6. He is now 3rd in scoring in the MASL with 8 points (6 goals and 2 assists) and is a strong presence on the field for Waza and against the opponents.
With just over two minutes left in the game, Harrisburg pulled their goalie and added an extra attacker to try to rally back but Detroit's Nik Djokic would slam that door shut with his goal to end the game 14-6.
Detroit now sits in 3rd in the Eastern Division with a 2-2 standing, however the 1st place Baltimore Blast (2-0) have only played 2 games and 2nd place Rochester (1-0) is in the standings after just one game on the season.
Detroit Waza Flo return back to action and back home this Saturday, November 22nd at 7pm when they take on the Milwaukee Wave (1-1) who are tied for 2nd place in the Central Division along with Chicago and Tulsa. The game will take place at Melvindale Civic Arena (4300 S Dearborn St, Melvindale, MI 48122).