BALTIMORE — Making history is as easy as one, two, three for Mike Zierhoffer.
With three goals in the Blast’s 13-6 win over Utica on Saturday the 28-year-old from Annapolis became the first goalie in the almost 16-year history of the Major Arena Soccer League to record a hat trick.
"A lot of things have to go right to be in that scenario. You have to be up by a good amount for them to pull their goalie that early. A couple fortunate chances and it ended up working out," he said.
This is Zierhoffer's fifth season in the MASL. He has played his entire career with the Blast. He had only two goals to his credit before Saturday’s outburst.
"You got to clear the last defender and finish it over him," he said when detailing his scoring strategy.
"Winning the game is the biggest thing. But also it’s after the fact I’m like, ‘Hold up. My goalkeeper just actually scored three goals. He just scored three goals’," laughed head coach David Bascome.
The Blast technically plays on the league’s shortest field. It is 150 feet long inside Towson’s TU Arena. That doesn’t matter said Zierhoffer.
"Being a smaller field, you can’t throw full power. It might even go over the goal. So it’s a little bit of kind of like a touch pass in football."
To prove he can score from any distance, the 6-foot-4 keeper is heading to Towson's Unitas Stadium on Thursday to toss some more tallies from longer range.
Nobody could have planned for Zierhoffer's hatty. However the Blast is planning for another first in MASL history - the league’s first outdoor game.
It is set for March 23 against Dallas at Unitas Stadium. They are calling it the Blast Spring Classic.
"Honestly, I’m a little bit jealous of the fans," said Zierhoffer. "Being able to do an outdoor game sounds fun, tailgate, all that kind of stuff."
"What an opportunity it’s going to be," added Bascome. "An opportunity for outdoor fans to get to connect the outdoor game to indoor. Who doesn’t want to be outside to enjoy this beautiful game?"
And who doesn’t want to see a few more goalie goals in the process.
Follow Shawn Stepner on Twitter @StepnerWMAR and Facebook
